to 
o 


THE 


SPIEITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 
^     OPPOSITION  LINE; 


OB, 


SCIENCE  AND  DIVINE  REVELATION 


AGAINST 


SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATIONS. 


BY 

ELD.    Z.    CAMPBELL, 

FORMERLY  A  LECTURER    ON  THE    OTHER    SIDE   OF  THE   SrBJTECT  J    AN 

EXPERIENCED  PATHETIZER  AND  SUCCESSFUL  EXPERIMENTER 

IN  THESE   OCCULT   MYSTERIES 


I 


"  And  I  lav  three  unclean  ipirits,  like  froga,  com&  oat  of  the  mouth  of  the  dragon,  and  out  of 
the  mouth  of  the  beast,  and  out  of  the  month  of  the  false  prophet.  For  they  are  the  spiritB  of 
devils  working  miraclee,  which  go  forth  unto  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  of  the  whole  world,  to 
gather  them  to  the  battle  of  that  great  day  of  Grod  Almighty.  Behold  I  come  as  a  thief." 
Bev.  xvi.  13, 14. 


SPRINGFIELD: 

PUBLISHED   BY   H.   S.   TAYLOR. 

1853. 


C  AH 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  jear  1353,  hj 

ELD.  Z.  CAMPBELL. 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  ttie  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachuaetts. 


PREFACE 


"  Pilate  saith  unto  him,  What  ia  truth  ? "  —  John  xviiL  38. 

This  great  question  is  now  agitating  the  world,  and 
on  its  decision  depends  the  fate  of  mankind  at  the  £^p- 
proaching  great  day  of  judgment.  And  since  the  ever- 
lasting welfare  of  man  rests  on  its  decision,  too  great 
an  interest  in  it  cannot  be  taken,  nor  can  it  be  too 
seriously  contemplated.  The  question  is  not,  What  I 
believe,  or  what  you  believe  ;  but.  What  is  truth  ?  It 
is  an  abuse  of  the  noble  faculties  of  man  to  believe  this 
or  that  is  truth,  without  being  able  to  give  a  reason 
for  his  belief ;  for  we  are  not  saved  by  believing  in  a 
lie,  but  "by  grace,  through  faith  ;"  that  is,  faith  in  the 
truth.  It  will,  however,  be  readily  seen  that  this  plan 
of  salvation  rests  on  the  truth  of  the  Bible. 

It  becomes,  therefore,  of  the  utmost  consequence  that 
we  know  whether  it  is  true  or  false.  Ter  this  point, 
then,  the  inquiry  should  be  directed  ;  for  it  would 
certainly  be  unjust  to  expect  people  to  believe  without 
some  evidence.  It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  any  thing 
will  convince  a  man  who  will  not  be  convinced,  for 

(8) 


PEEPACK. 

there^are  none  so  blind  as  those  who  will  not  see. 
Now,  setting  aside  all  the  conflicting  interpretations 
which  men  have  given  to  it,  how  can  it  be  expected, 
if  true,  that  it  may  be  made  to  ajJpear  so  ?  or  what 
evidence  of  the  truth  of  it  can  the  greatest  sceptic  ask 
for  ?  Let  him  ask  the  strongest  and  most  reasonable 
evidence  he  can  think  of,  and,  with  a  little  candor,  he 
will  be  sure  to  find  it. 

Though  volumes  have  been  written,  and  various  ar- 
guments raised,  to  prove  the  divine  authenticity  of  the 
Bible,  yet  there  is  but  one  way  in  which  it  can  be  done, 
and  but  one  in  which  it  can  reasonably  be  expected ; 
and  that  is,  in  the  fulfilment  of  its  prophecies.  The 
opinions  of  men  may  differ  on  the  interpretation  of 
certain  words  and  phrases,  and  a  seeming  want  of  har- 
mony in  the  word  thereby  be  produced :  it  is  the  im- 
perfections of  men,  and  not  of  the  word,  which  must 
stand  or  fall  on  its  own  fulfilment.  But  it  should  not 
be  expected  that  any  people  should  witness  the  truth 
of  any  more  of  the  word  than  what  belongs  to  the  age 
in  which  they  live.  This  is  a  peculiar  feature  in  the 
sacred  Scriptures.  Every  age  has  witnessed  some  por- 
tion of  its  fulfilment,  enough  to  convince  all  who  were 
willing  to  be  convinced. 

We  might  mention  the  flood,  and  the  length  of  time 
the  living  witnesses  remained  on  earth,  as  monuments 
to  the  truth  of  God's  word.  These  were  evidence  to 
that  age. 


^PREFACE.  0 

Later,  we  find  a  promis^  to  Abraham  that  his  seed 
should  be  a  stranger  four  jundred  years  in  a  land  that 
is  not  theirs ;  the  fulfilment  of  which  was  evidence  to 
all  such  as  were  willing  to  believe.  And  yet  later,  we 
might  refer  to  the  Jewish  captivity,  and  many  other 
things,  the  fulfilment  of  which  answered  the  same  pur- 
pose to  a  later  age.  i$ 

Frther  down  the  stream  of  time  we  find  the  fulfil- 
ment of  prophecy  of  a  Messiah,  to  be  born  of  a  virgin, 
in  Bethlehem  of  Judea,  to  be  called  a  Nazarene,  to  be 
called  out  of  Egypt,  to  be  sold  for  thir-ty  pieces  of 
silver,  to  be  brought  as  a  lamb  dumb  before  his  shear- 
ers, &c.  ;  all  of  which  proved,  to  the  age  which  saw  it 
fulfilled,  the  truth  of  divine  revelation  ;  at  least,  it  was 
proof  to  all,  whether  it  was  so  received  or  not. 

Still  later,  the  future  pathway  of  the  church  was 
marked  out,  from  the  first  to  the  second  advent  of 
Messiah,  and  the  bloody  persecution  she  would  pass 
through  ;  all  of  which  has  been  fulfilled  up  to  our  time. 

Nor  has  God  left  this  people  without  sufficient  evi- 
dence of  the  truth  of  his  word.  It  is  the  design  of 
this  work  to  show  that  the  mysteries  of  rapping  spirit- 
ualism is  a  literal  fulfilment  of  the  word  of  God,  "  the 
strong  delusion  "  which  is  to  be  sent  in  the  last  days ; 
and  that  the  falling  away,  spoken  of  by  Paul,  that  is, 
the  remarkable  disregard  for  religion  the  thing  is  pro- 
ducing, is  as  clearly  marked  out  in  that  word ;  and 
further,  that  it  should  be  a  science,  "  falsely  so  called." 


6  PBEFACB. 

So  there  is  no  other  way  to  consider  it  but  in  the  light 
of  true  science  and  divine  revelation.  Therefore,  th© 
only  appropriate  answer  to  the  question,  What  is  truth? 
is  found  in  the  language  of  Him  to  whom  the  question 
itself  was  put,  "  Thy  word  is  truth  ; "  that  is,  the  word 
of  the  Father,  to  whom  he  prayed  that  his  disciples 
might  be  sanctified  through  the  truth;  and  by  this 
truth  we  shall  endeavor  to  judge  of  the  subject  under 
consideration.  Having  practised  in  these  mysteries 
for  years,  a  total  sceptic  to  all  revealed  religion,  the 
author  became  convinced,  by  his  own  experience,  that 
they  are  not  performed  by  any  scientific  principle,  but? 
in  part,  by  the  agency  of  evil  spirits.  It  afterwards 
pleased  God,  in  the  order  of  his  providence,  to  lead 
him  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth  of  divine  revelation, 
and  give  him  a  hope  in  Christ. 

On  further  reflection,  he  became  convinced  that  the 
whole  affair  is  but  a  revival  of  those  abominations  in 
the  sight  of  God  formerly  practised  by  the  heathen. 
From  these  circumstances,  and  by  the  earnest  solicita- 
tion of  friends,  he  has  been  induced  to  mount  the  car 
of  sacred  truth,  and  run  "  The  Opposition  Line  "  to  the 
most  fatal  delusion  that  ever  insnared  our  fallen  race, 
humbly  trusting  in  the  Lord  of  hosts  that  his  feeble 
effort  may  be  an  instrument  in  the  hand  of  God  in 
taking  a  few  passengers  on  the  old  road  to  glory, 
which  has  often  been  travelled,  but  never  found  to  lead  ' 
astray. 


CONTENTS. 


Pi.OS 

INTBODUCTION,         .       .  9 

CHAPTER  I. 

ANCIENT  SOKCERY.  —  MODERN  MESMERISM.  —  ITS  ORIGIN,    .      17 

CHAPTER  II. 

EXPERIMENTS  OF  THE  AUTHOR,    ........     28 

CHAPTER  ni. 

PHENOMENA  OP  MESMERISM,  .       .  35 

CHAPTER  IV. 

CLAIRVOYANCE  CONl'INUED, 45 

CHAPTER  V. 

FURTHER  EXPERIMENTS  OF  THE  AUTHOR. —  NO  ELECTRIC- 
AL ACTION  IN  MESMERISM.  —  EVIL  EFFECTS  OF  SPIRIT- 
UAL MANIFESTATIONS.  —  THE  TRANSFIGURATION.  —  AN 
ANGEL  APPEARED  TO  JOHN  THE  REVELATOB,    ...     56 


M 


CHAPTER   VI. 


PHENOMENA  OF  MESMERISM  EXPLAINED  ON  THE  SUPPO- 
SITION THAT  ELECTRICITY  IS  THE  AGENT  CALLED  INTO 
ACTION.  — THE  REV.  J.  BOVEE  DODS'S  THEORY,   ...      66 

CHAPTER   VII. 

REVIEW  OF  THE  SUBJECT  CONTAINED  IN  THE  PRECEDING 
CHAPTER.— THE  REV.  BOVEE  DODS'S  THEORY  REFUTED,     82 


8  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEH   YIII. 

GENEEAL  REMARKS, 101 

CHAPTER   IX. 

THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  THEORY  OF  MESMERISM  CONSID- 
ERED. —  AN  IMPROVED  MODE  OF  GOING  TO  HEAVEN,     .    129 

CHAPTER    X. 

GOOD  AND    BAD    SPIRITS.  —  TABLE  TIPPING.  —  THEIR  REAL 
•TIPPING     DOUBTED.  —  RAPID    PROGRESS     OF    SPIRITUAL 
MANIFESTATIONS.  —  REFLECTIONS.  —  DOUBLE     LIFE     IN 
•     MAN, J46 

CHAPTER  XI. 

THE   EXISTENCE   OF  EVIL    SPIRITS    PROVED    BY  MESMERIC 

DISCLOSURES.  — THE  EASIEST  WAY  TO  ACCOUNT  FOE  IT,    170 

CHAPTER  XII. 

ORIGIN  OF  MESMERISM.  —  MEDIUMS  AMONG  THE  NORTH 
AMERICAN  INDIANS.  —  MESMERISM  KNOWN  TO  NAA- 
MAN, 184 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE    NEW    AGENT.  —  OD    FORCE,  OR   MUNDANE   AGENCY.  — 

DEDUCTIONS, 195 

CHAPTER  XIY. 

MESMEEISM  CONSIDEEED  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  DIVINE  REVE- 
LATION,  £20 

CHAPTER  XV. 

PSYCHOLOGY  A  SUBJECT  OF  SCRIPTURE  PROPHECY.  —  THE 

'       MAN  OF  SIN.  —  THE  DEVIL.  —  CONCLUSIONS,    ....    242 


APPENDIX, .263 

INDEX, 273 


INTRODUCTION. 


"  Believe  not  every  spirit,  but  try  the  spirits  whether  they  are  of  God,  because 
many  false  propheta  (or  '  lying  spirits  ')  are  gone  out  into  the  world."  —  1  John  iv.  1. 

*•  A  consulter  with  familiar  spirits  shall  not  be  found  among  you."  —  Dxut.  xviii. 
10, 11. 

A  MUCH- VALUED  friend  of  the  author,  and  brother 
in  Christ,  (H.  Jones,)  upon  the  above  texts  speaks 
thus :  — 

"  Probably  no  question  publicly  agitated  has  been  more 
generally  embarrassing  and  difficult  to  settle  than  that  of 
modern  spiritual  manifestations,  so  called.  The  friends  of 
these  wonders  maintain  that  they  are  caused  by  spirits  of  the 
dead,  returned  from  the  spirit  world  to  enlighten  mankind,  as 
the  Spirit  of  God,  Christ,  and  angels  did  it  formerly,  on 
coming  from  heaven  to  earth.  Yet  a  large  class  of  their 
opponents  consider  the  whole  as  a  mere  human  imposture  ; 
while  a  third  class,  admitting  their  being  done  rather  by 
spirits  of  some  kind,  consider  them  not  spirits  of  the  dead 
at  all,  but '  unclean,'  '  lying  spirits,'  such  as,  besetting  men, 
have  made  them  tormented  maniacs,  and  were  often  cast  out 
by  divine  power.  And  as  proof  that  the  thing  is  not  a  mere 
human  sleight  of  hand   performance,  but  something  much 

(9; 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

worse  and  beyond  that,  large  committees  of  opponents 
most  suitable  for  the  purpose  have  often  thoroughly  exam- 
ined the  rapping  phenomena,  and  reported  publicly  that  they 
were  not  a  human,  deceptive  performance,  but  an  absolute 
mystery  of  some  kind,  so  far  as  they  could  ascertain.  These 
reports  may  be  seen  in  the  Auburn  '  history '  of  them,  and 
other  such  publications  now  common.  And  should  not  the 
manifold  evidence  of  trusty  eye  and  ear  witnesses  of  the 
same,  now  in  our  midst,  be  also  regarded  ?  And  let  us  who 
oppose  the  rappers  not  join  sides  with  them,  by  denying 
their  being  spirits  at  all,  which  naturally  acquits  them,  and 
as  they  wish,  of  the  charge  now  against  them,  that  they  are 
indeed  the  worst  and  most  to  be  punished  of  all  spirits  con- 
demned in  holy  writ. 

"  In  a  very  limited,  humble  attempt  now  to  assign  reasons 
for  not  regarding  the  rapping  spirits  as  spirits  of  the  dead, 
sent  back,  as  they  say,  but  rather  such  as  are  of  the  most 
evil  character,  formerly  tormenting  and  bewitching  both 
human  beings  and  swine,  the  following  considerations  are 
respectfully  submitted :  — 

1.  "  It  is  well  known  by  many  who  have  looked  most  at 
this  subject  that  there  is  no  admissible  conclusive  evidence 
yet  before  us  that  the  spirits  of  the  dead  are  the  real 
authors  of  these  phenomena.  And,  indeed,  there  is  no 
evidence  at  all  from  witnesses  positively  knowing  who  they 
are,  on  this  side  of  the  question,  except  from  the  rappers 
themselves.  But  while  this  testimony  is  wholly  ex  parte., 
and  in  their  own  defence,  as  they  are  now  accused  by  many, 
we  are  naturally  forbidden  to  receive  it  here,  whatever  their 
character,  on  further  trial,  may  prove  to  bo.  Men  on  trial 
for  alleged  offences  expect  no  acquittal  merely  on  their  own 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

testimony.  Neither  does  any  tribunal  think  of  acquitting 
the  arrested,  however  innocent,  except  on  other  testimony 
than  that  of  their  own  pleading  — '  Not  Guilty.''  And 
even  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  on  coming  from  heaven  to 
earth,  on  his  great  mission  from  God  Almighty,  declined 
having  his  own  mere  testimony  taken  as  proof  in  the  case. 
He  rather  urged  the  testimony  of  his  Father,  and  the  ex- 
traordinary works  done  through  himself,  as  admissible  proof 
on  the  occasion. 

"  Then,  why  should  the  mere  testimony  of  these  rapping 
spirits  be  now  further  urged  upon  us  as  proof  that  they  are 
not  '  unclean,'  '  lying  spirits,'  but  rather  the  spirits  of  the 
ancient  prophets,  apostles,  Washington,  Franklin,  Tom  Paine, 
&c.,  &c.,  together  with  the  more  immediate  dead  relatives 
of  those  who  consult  these  spirits  ?  For  such,  indeed,  they 
have  most  abundantly  declared  themselves  to  be,  within  the 
last  two  years  or  so,  since  beginning  in  the  Fox  family  in 
western  New  York.  And  yet  they  are  no  new  thing  in  the 
world,  as  histories  of  all  ages  and  countries  have  shown; 
though  in  outward  forms  and  particulars  the  manifestations 
have  varied,  as  apparently  found  needful,  to  cause  the  great- 
est seduction  and  ruin  of  mankind. 

"  And  as  to  the  alleged  good  works  of  these  spirits,  as  proof 
for  them,  viz.,  that  they  heal  the  sick,  and  otherwise  greatly 
promote  men's  temporal  interests,  besides  their  extraordinary 
efforts  in  religion,  as  though  expecting  to  secure  the  univer- 
sal salvation  of  men  and  spirits  in  the  regeneration  of  the 
world  without  a  judgment  day,  or  resurrection  of  the  dead 
through  Christ,  as  appears  from  their  revelations  now  pub- 
lished, —  we  .have  not  yet  known  of  their  performing  any 
better  apparent  works  in  such  things  than  what '  foul  spirits ' 


IS  USTEODUCriON. 

WQ^ld  naturally  do  in  their  grossest  deceptions,  thus  '  trans-^ 
forming  themselves '  into  angels  of  light,  as  foretold  of  such 
spirits. 

2.  "  The  public  defenders  of  these  spirits  (let  it  be  said 
kindly)  are  naturally  understood  as  furnishing  us  some  proof 
that  the  spirits  are  practising  foul  play,  in  claiming  to  be 
from  God,  and  sent  from  the  dead,  as  they  do.  Because 
much  proof  has  been  publicly  brought  against  them  that 
they  are  demon  spirits  rather  than  what  they  claim  to  be  ; 
which  proof  has  come  before  their  mediums,  clairvoyants, 
and  other  public  advocates.  But  instead  of  their  attempting 
publicly  and  fairly  to  answer  it,  they  have  seemed  to  re- 
njiain  as  silent  in  regard  to  it  as  though  neither  the  public 
nor  themselves  ever  heard  of  such  proof.  Particulars  of 
this  will  not  be  withheld  when  demanded.  And  yet  their 
professed  full  '  investigation '  of  the  subject,  in  the  late 
increase  of  their  pamphlets,  books,  periodicals,  circles,  con- 
ferences, mass  meetings,  general  conventions,  &c.,  &c., 
appear  rather  as  a  flood  about  to  deluge  the  community  with 
this  spiritualism.  Still,  in  all  these  operations,  so  far,  they 
have  seemingly  confined  themselves  to  this  one  point,  or 
position,  viz.,  that '  spirits  '  have  caused  the  manifestations, 
and  inferred  from  such  proof  that  they  are  indeed  from  the 
dead. 

"  If,  then,  these  spirits  are  honestly  what  they  claim  to  be, 
and  if  their  disciples  or  followers  are  positively  satisfied  with 
the  proof  they  have  of  it,  it  is  not  seen  why  they  should  so 
long  and  so  rigidly  stand  back,  or  refuse  to  come  forward 
into  die  open  light,  when  called,  as  they  often  have  been,  to 
look  full  in  the  face  the  proofs  before  them,  that  these  man- 
ifestations are  performed  by  such  foul  spirits  as  those  pos- 
sessing the  swine,  as  already  mentioned. 


INTRODUCTION.  I3 

3.  "  These  spirits  are  much  in  the  habit  of  misrepresen- 
tation and  falsehood,  in  making  communications  through 
their  mediums.  And  this  is  admitted  publicly  by  the  me- 
diums themselves,  and  other  advocates,  who,  in  such  cases, 
apologize  for  their  being  '  no  more  reliable,'  generally  im- 
puting it  to  the  '  mistakes '  of  spirits  '  not  yet  fully  devel- 
oped,' or  to  the  '  scepticism '  of  some  present,  '  provoking ' 
the  spirits  to  do  no  better.  And  these  failures  or  falsehoods 
of  the  spirits  appear  as  often  to  come  from  the  pretended 
spirits  of  the  pious  dead  as  from  others  ;  and,  indeed,  they 
all  profess  religion  now.  So  long,  then,  as  even  the  mediums 
admit  these  frequent  untruths  of  their  '  guardian  spirits,'  and 
that  they  are  '  no  more  reliable,'  how  can  others,  yet  sus- 
picious of  them,  safely  rely  upon  such  selfish  and  ex  parte 
testimony,  that  they  are,  indeed,  the  true  spirits  of  the 
dead  } 

4.  "  These  spirits,  or  their  mediums  for  them,  are  in  some 
instances  witnessing  against  each  other  publicly,  as  being 
*  evil,  damned  spirits,  willing  instruments  of  the  devil,'  &c. 
In  now  showing  this  to  be  a  fact,  the  following  extract  is 
quoted  verbatim  from  a  pamphlet  just  out,  entitled,  'J.  De- 
fence  of  Spiritual  Manifestations.  By  Rev.  C.  H.  Harvey, 
Pastor  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  of  Kingston,  Pa.  1852.' 
The  author  says, — 

"  '  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  evil  spirits  com- 
municate with  the  living,  through  mediums,  in  many  in- 
stances. I  believe  that  there  are  mediums  so  wicked  that 
good  spirits  will  not  communicate  with  them.  I  believe  this 
to  be  the  case  with  the  famous  Auburn  Circle.  That  raps 
are  made  there,  and  that  communications  are  received  con- 
taining extra  human  intelligence,  I  do  not  question  ;  but  that 
2 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

the  devil  presides  over  the  circle,  and  evil,  damned  spirits, 
the  willing  instruments  of  the  devil,  the  only  ones  that  com- 
municate through  it,  I  am  fully  satisfied.  And  that  many 
other  communications  which  have  been  spread  abroad  as 
coming  from  the  spirit  spheres  are  from  the  same  source,  or 
are  wicked  fabrications,  got  up  by  their  authors  for  the  pur- 
pose of  deception,  I  am  just  as  fully  satisfied.  To  this  class 
I  believe  the  works  of  A.  J.  Davis,  and  much  contained 
in  the  paper  called  the  '  Spirit  World,'  edited  by  Rev.  La 
Roy  Sunderland,  on  spiritual  manifestations,  belong.  Nay, 
I  know  it  to  be  so.  I  know  it,  because  they  contradict  the 
Bible.'  — pp.  36,37. 

"  And  much  more  this  spirit  author  says,  eq^ually  de- 
nouncing these  heretofore  most  publicly  held  up  as  pioneers 
and  champions,  if  not  bishops,  in  this  spiritualism.  And  can 
they  and  their  communicating  spirits  now,  in  return,  con- 
sistently testify  any  more  favorably  of  this  fraternal  author 
and  his  communicating  spirits  }  Should  a  company  of  the 
arrested  thus  testify  against  each  other,  their  character,  as  a 
body,  would  naturally  appear  the  more  suspicious  on  that 
account.  Then  how  can  this  company  of  accused  rappers 
be  properly  acquitted,  on  their  own  testimony,  thus  alter- 
nately condemning  themselves  or  each  other  ? 

5.  "  Many  of  the  rapping  spirits,  if  not  all,  teach  infidel 
doctrines,  and  virtually  urge  them  on  the  world  as  a  substi- 
tute for  the  gospel  of  Christ.  This  is  considered  as  much 
done  in  the  voluminous  spirit  revelations  of  Mr.  Andrew  J. 
Davis,  now  regarded  as  understood  first  in  rank  among  clair- 
voyants and  mediums.  But  present  limits  will  only  admit  a 
word  of  this  spirit  infidelity  from  'J  History  of  Develop- 
ments in  Spiritual  Manifestations  in  the  city  of  Fhiladel- 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

phia.''  This  author,  from  spirit  communications,  teaches  that 
this  '  spiritual  era  of  the  nineteenth  century '  is  full  as  '  im- 
portant and  glorious'  as  that  of  the  '  Christian  era.' — p.  8. 
And  that  God  never  '  enabled  '  men,  by  revelations,  '  to  em- 
brace the  grand  idea  of  a  certain  hereafter'  till  now,  by 
'  guardian  angels,'  (p.  9,)  meaning  rapping  spirits  ;  as  though 
these  rappers  have  now  done  more  in  divine  revelations  than 
was  ever  before  done  by  God  himself,  Christ,  his  Son,  or 
through  angels,  prophets,  and  apostles.  Does  not  this  spirit 
assumption,  at  least,  border  on  blasphemy  ? 

"  These  Philadelphia  spirit  rappers  also  teach  that  '  it  is 
impossible  for  a  spirit  to  be  bad,'  (p.  12,)  and  that '  there  can 
be  no  bad  spirits,'  (p.  13 ;)  as  though  Satan  himself,  and  his 
whole  *  generation  of  vipers,'  are  all  good  in  the  spirit  world. 
Those  spirits  also  teach,  unanimously,  that  '  all  spirits  are 
happy  '  '  in  the  spirit  world,'  '  much  happier  than  they  were 
on  earth  ; '  that '  none  of  God's  creatures  are  doomed  to  be 
miserable,  but  to  enjoy  all  the  happiness  they  are  capable  of 
doing,'  &c.,  &c.  — pp.  62,  64-66,  72,  80.  This  is  the 
same  as  saying,  that  not  only  all  who  die  in  sin,  but  all 
devils  also,  if  there  be  any,  shall  be  saved  in  heaven.  If 
these  spirit  doctrines  are  not  included  among  the  apostle's 
foretold  '  doctrines  of  devils,'  to  be  taught  by  '  seducing 
spirits,'  what  others  can  be  so  ? 

"  Finally,  in  view  of  these  things,  may  we  not  respectfully 
invite  (not  challenge)  the  supporters  of  rapping  spirits,  clair- 
voyance, &c.,  now  to  present  publicly  their  strongest  sup- 
posed proof  that  these  manifestations  are  not  identical  with 
evil  spiritual  '  manifestations '  of  old  ?  And  will  they  not 
labor  to  show  wherein  they  spiritually  differ  from  those  in 
Eden,  which  caused  man's  fall,  such  as  strangely  afflicted 


16  INTRODUCTION. 

Job  and  vexed  King  Saul?  And  let  it  be  shown,  if  It  can, 
that  these  spirits  are  not  such  as  was  in  '  Balaam,'  who  sought 
to  '  curse  Israel ; '  such  as  were  in  '  Baal's  prophets ; '  and 
also  lied  to  '  King  Ahab  ; '  such  as  made  persons  '  wizards,' 
*  soothsayers,'  and  '  maniacs,'  and  to  break  '  fetters  and 
chains ; '  and  such  as  were  in  swine,  and  were  *  cast  out '  of 
persons  by  divine  power.  Should  this  be  effectually  done, 
then  let  it  be  further  urged  upon  us,  and  not  before,  that 
'  spirits  of  the  dead  '  now  perform  these  manifestations." 


THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 
OPPOSITION    LINE. 


CHAPTER    I. 


ANCIENT    SORCEKY.  — MODERN    MESMERISM.  —  ITS 

ORIGIN. 

From  time  immemorial,  there  have  been  individ- 
uals apparently  endowed  with  superhuman  power  to 
do  certain  things  contrary  to  the  ordinary  course  of 
Viiature.  That  the  holy  prophets,  Jesus  Christ,  and 
Jliis  apostles  wrought  miracles  by  the  immediate 
power  of  God,  I  firmly  believe,  as  may  be  abun- 
dantly proved  by  the  sacred  Scriptures.  But  there 
was,  anciently,  another  very  different  class,  who  did 
many  marvellous  things  by  some  other  power. 

Among  the  former  we  find  Moses  and  Aaron ;  and 
among  the  latter,  the  sorcerers  or  magicians  of  Egypt. 
Ex.  vii.  10-12,  "  And  Moses  and  Aaron  went  in 
unto  Pharaoh  ;  and  Aaron  cast  down  his  rod  before 
Pharaoh,  and  before  his  servants,  and  it  became  a 
serpent.  Then  Pharaoh  also  called  the  wise  men 
and  the  sorcerers :  now  the  magicians  of  Egypt,  they 
also  did  in  like  manner  with  their  enchantments. 
For  they  cast  down  every  man  his  rod,  and  they 
became  serpents  :  but  Aaron's  rod  swallowed  up  their 
2*  (17) 


18  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

rods."  Now,  Moses  and  Aaron  were  called  of  God 
to  do  these  things,  and  were  acting  under  a  divine 
power  given  them  for  this  great  and  good  purpose; 
while  the  sorcerers,  doing  the  same  thing  for  an  evil 
purpose,  and  by  an  evil  power,  were  by  divine  dis- 
pleasure condemned. 

This  appears  from  the  following,  among  many 
other  texts,  which  show  the  abomination  of  the  prac- 
tice:  (Rev.  xxi.  8;  xxii.  15.  Is.  xlvii.  9.)  These 
practices  have  been  known  by  different  names,  in 
different  ages,  and  among  different  nations  :  besides 
those  already  given,  we  may  add  necromancy,  witch- 
craft, &c.  It  was  one  of  the  abominations  in  the 
sight  of  God  for  which  he  drove  the  ancient  Ca- 
naanites  out  of  the  land.     (Deut.  xviii.  9--14.) 

We  shall  proceed  to  show  that  the  same  abom- 
ination, with  most  if  not  all  its  ancient  forms,  exists 
among  us  at  the  present  day.  And  although  it  ha 
not  been  practised  in  this  country,  to  any  considerab  :; 
extent,  till  within  aboat  fifteen  years,  it  has  four  • 
time  to  change  its  name  several  times  —  a  circum 
stance  which  alone  is  better  calculated  to  excite  sus- 
picion than  to  reflect  any  credit  on  the  thing  itself. 
Good  things  are  not  apt  to  change  their  names  quite 
so  often.  Righteousness  is  still  known  by  the  same 
name  by  which  it  was  in  the  days  of  David ;  and  the 
name  Christian  remains  the  same  that  it  was  when 
first  given  at  Antioch,  eighteen  hundred  years  ago. 
(Acts  xi.  26.)  But  the  evil  we  speak  of  seems  soon 
to  get  ashamed  of  one  name ;  to  drop  it  and  take 
another. 

Just  so  it  was  in  old  times :  when  it  had,  under  one 
aame,  received  the  righteous  frowns  and  just  indig- 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  19 

nation  of  God,  it  would  drop  that  name  and  take 
another. 

In  this  country  it  was  first  called  animal  mag^ 
netism,  by  which  we  were  given  to  understand  that 
certain  manipulations  made  by  one  individual  on 
another  produced  an  effect  in  some  respects  similar 
to  the  natural  magnet  or  loadstone. 

At  an  early  period  of  its  notoriety  in  this  country, 
the  author  became  acquainted  with  its  modus  operandi^ 
and  entered  into  it  with  a  zeal  and  ardor  that  might 
have  been  honorable  in  a  better  cause. 

This  was  in  the  summer  of  1841 ;  but  no  regular 
series  of  experiments  were  entered  into  until  the 
year  following. 

After  the  novelty  of  the  thing  had  a  little  worn  off, 

and   the    fact  established  that    such  mysteries  were 

practicable,  with   such  unremitted  energy  I  perused 

'ie  subject,  that  I  soon  found  myself  among  the  most 

ccessful  experimenters  of  the  day ;  and  for  a  long 
ne  I  verily  thought  I  discovered  in  it  the  germ  of  a 
^ence  yet  to  be  developed  to  bless  mankind,  not 
only  in  easing  the  load  of  human  woe  and  misery,  but 
also  in  obtaining  a  correct  knowledge  of  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  various  beings  that  people  the 
distant  stars,  and  in  getting  a  peep  occasionally  into 
the  cabinet  of  secret  as  well  as  future  events.  And 
firom  the  apparent  complete  success  of  my  exper- 
iments, I  entertained  high  hopes  that  I  should  at 
length  succeed  in  intwining  around  my  temples  the 
garlands  of  a  deathless  fame,  as  the  founder  of  a 
science  that  was  destined  to  put  to  the  blush  all 
others  found  on  the  pages  of  the  Encyclopaedia. 

Such  were  my  hopes.  But  God  has  since  shown 
me  that  it  is  more  noble  to  aim  to  be  a  good  man 


20  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

than  what  the  world  calls  a  great  one.  And  I  think 
if  men  w^ould.  exert  themselves  as  much  to  be  good  as 
to  be  great,  we  should  have  more  good  men  among 
us,  and  less  mesmerism  and  spirit  rapping. 

Believing  'it  was  a  natural  agent  I  had  to  deal 
with,  I  could  not  fail  to  see  that,  when  its  principles 
were  well  understood,  it  would  amount  to  the  most 
wonderful  and  glorious  discovery  ever  made  by  man  ; 
and  that  it  was  within  the  power  of  man,  to  a  great 
extent,  to  investigate  the  laws  of  Nature,  and  from 
effects  to  learn  causes,  and  trace  her  through  her 
secret  labyrinths  up  to  Nature's  God,  and  thus,  by  a 
kind  of  philosophical  crucible,  reduce  the  crudest  ores 
to  the  purest  metals.  With  these  views  I  was  im- 
pelled to  action,  and  buoyant  with  hope.  But  God 
had  otherwise  decreed.  A  cup  of  disappointment 
was  preparing,  which,  on  tasting,  I  found  of  all  things 
the  most  bitter. 

Before  proceeding  farther,  it  is  necessary  to  state, 
that,  for  a  long  time  after  engaging  in  the  thing,  my 
whole  object  was  to  investigate  it,  and  learn,  if  pos- 
sible, by  what  laws  it  was  governed.  Consequently, 
I  made  no  public  exhibition  of  it  until  I  was  per- 
suaded that  I  had  arrived  at  a  sufficient  amount  of 
facts  to  establish  its  claims  to  a  science  ;  and  since  it 
bore  the  name  of  animal  magnetism^  my  first  ex- 
periments w^ere  designed  to  ascertain  whether  it  bore 
any  resemblance  to  natural  magnetism.  For  this 
purpose,  I  entered  into  a  series  of  experiments  too 
numerous  and  varied  to  be  enumerated  here,  the 
result  of  which  seemed  to  establish  the  propriety  of 
the  name. 

Before  entering  upon  my  own  experiments,  it  is 
proper  to  give  the  reader  a  brief  account  of  the  origin 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  21 

of  the  thing  itself.     For  this  purpose,  I  here  give  an 
extract  from  a  late  English  work  on  this  subject. 

"  Anton  Mesmer  was  born  in  1734,  at  Mersburg, 
on  the  shores  of  Lake  Constance,  and  died  in  his 
native  place  in  1815,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty- 
one.  At  the  age  of  forty-two  he  took  the  degree  of 
doctor  of  medicine,  in  the  University  of  Vienna.  He 
appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  imaginative  cast  of 
mind ;  for  the  inaugural  thesis  he  published  on  ob- 
taining his  degree  was,  '  On  the  influence  of  the 
planets  on  the  human  body.'  Such  a  mind,  if  likely 
to  fall  into  many  errors,  was  still  open  for  the  recep- 
tion of  any  new  ideas  which  might  present  them- 
selves, and  was  not  prone,  as  men  of  a  more  scep- 
tical cast,  to  reject  any  new  truth,  because  it  did  not 
harmonize  with  preconceived  opinions.  The  then 
professor  of  astronomy  at  Vienna  believed  in  the 
efiicacy  of  the  loadstone  as  a  remedy  in  human  dis- 
eases, and  he  had  invented  a  peculiar  form  of  mag- 
netized steel  plates,  which,  it  is  said,  he  applied  to 
the  cure  of  disease  with  much  success. 

"  Mesmer  obtained  from  the  astronomer,  who  was 
his  personal  friend,  these  magnets,  and  applied  them 
in  his  own  way ;  and,  it  is  said,  with  such  striking 
results,  that  he  communicated  them  to 'the  astron- 
omer, who  published  an  account  of  them,  but  attrib- 
uted the  cures  performed  to  the  form  of  the  plates, 
and  merely  represented  Mesmer  as  a  physician  em- 
ployed by  him  to  use  them.  Mesmer,  who  had  dis- 
covered the  peculiEir  mode  of  using  them  to  insure 
success,  —  that  was,  in  fact,  by  manipulations,  now 
called. PASSES,  —  was  indignant  at  this,  and  accused 
his  friend  of  a  violation  of  the  confidence  placed  in 
him.     The   result   was    a   controversy   between   the 


22  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

parties,  each  accusing  the  other.  Notwithstanding 
this  quarrel,  Mesmer  proceeded  in  his  own  way,  and 
acquired  considerable  popularity  ;  but  whether  from 
indiscretion  on  his  part,  or  jealousy  on  the  part  of 
others,  he  was  opposed  by  the  scientific  authorities 
of  Vienna,  and  was  ultimately  obliged  to  quit  that 
city. 

^'  In  the  year  1778,  two  years  after  obtaining  his 
degree,  he  arrived  in  Paris,  whither  his  popularity 
appears  to  have  preceded  him ;  for  we  are  told,  even 
by  his  enemies,  that,  upon  opening  public  apartments 
in  that  gay  metropolis  for  the  reception  of  patients, 
they  were  speedily  crowded  by  the  numbers  who 
daily  resorted  to  them,  including  all  classes,  from  the 
peer  to  the  peasant,  and  that  hundreds  were  ready 
to  testify  to  the  cures  wrought  upon  their  own  per- 
sons by  the  great  magnetizer.  Now,  making  every 
allowance  for  imagination  or  fancy^  striking  results 
must  have  followed  his  treatment,  or  no  such  enthu- 
siasm could  have  been  raised  in  his  behalf. 

"  A  French  physician  became  a  disciple  of  Mes- 
mer, and  is  said  speedily  to  have  acquired  the  best 
practice  in  Paris.  So  great,  in  fact,  was  MesmerV 
success,  that  the  French  government  took  up  the 
matter,  and* offered  him  a  large  annual  income,  if  he 
would  communicate  his  secret;  and  they  appear  to 
have  thought  so  highly  of  the  use  to  which  this  new 
agent  might  be  applied,  that  they  actually  proposed 
to  guaranty  him  a  large  sum,  even  if  a  commission 
appointed  to  examine  the  subject  should  make  an 
unfavorable  report!  Mesmer,  however,  did  not  ac- 
cede to  the  government  proposal.  After  some  time 
and  divers  vicissitudes,  the  sum  of  «£  14,000  was 
raised  by  his  disciples,  whom  he  had  instructed  in  his 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  23 

art,  but  whom  he  did  not  consider  entitled  to  practise 
.  it   publicly  —  a  right   which    they    considered   them- 
selves to  possess. 

"  Mesmer  then  returned  to  his  native  place ;  and 
this  has  been  represented  as  '  running  away  from  his 
dupes  ; '  but  it  appears  that  he  retained  faith  in  his 
views,  and  in  his  last  illness  sought  relief  in  his  own 
discoveries.  As  Mesmer's  discoveries  arose  out  of 
the  use  of  magnets,  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  should 
consider  magnetism  as  the  agent  by  which  the  effects 
he  witnessed  were  produced.  He  therefore  taught 
that  there  was  a  fluid,  or  gas,  universally  diffused, 
which  influenced  the  earth  and  planets,  and  all  an- 
imated bodies  ;  and  this  fluid  he  called  '  animal  mag- 
netism.' " 

He  considered  that  it  was  capable  of  healing  dis- 
eases of  the  nerves  immediately,  and  other  diseases 
mediately  ;  that  it  perfected  the  action  of  medicines, 
and  tended  to  promote  a  favorable  crisis  in  disease  ; 
and  that  in  animal  magnetism  nature  presented  a 
universal  method  of  healing  the  diseases,  and  pre- 
serving the  health  of  mankind. 

The  great  end  of  his  proceedings  appears  to  have 
been  use  —  the  application  of  a  remedy  for  human 
suffering ;  and  he  does  not  appear  to  have  been  aware 
of  the  more  curious  and  distinctly  psychical  phenom- 
ena elicited  by  later  inquirers.  To  the  Marquis  de 
Puysegur,  a  French  nobleman,  one  of  Mesmer's  dis- 
ciples, is  attributed  the  discovery  of  the  faculty  called 
clairvoyance,  in  the  year  1784. 

For  the  sake  of  brevity,  I  omit  describing  Mes- 
mer's mode  of  operating,  save  that,  among  other 
means  for  acting  on  his  patients,  be  had  a  sort  of  box, 
filled  with  iron  filings  and  pounded  glass,  placed  in 


24  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

the  centre  of  the  room  where  they  assembled;  and 
that  they  each  were  placed  in  connection  with  it  by 
means  of  polished  metal  rods,  which  they  held  in  their 
hands  ;  and  the  patients  were  further  united  and  con- 
nected by  means  of  a  chain  encircling  them. 

When  the  French  commissioners  applied  to  this 
box  the  usual  tests  for  terrestrial  magnetism,  and 
found  no  indication  of  ordinary  magnetic  influence, 
they  reported  the  whole  was  the  work  of  imagination^ 
—  meaning /flwc^,  —  yet  admitting  that  cures  were 
effected.  This  commission  seems  to  have  been  both 
a  prejudiced  and  unfair  one.  The  name  of  Dr. 
Franklin  occurs  among  the  commissioners;  but  he 
was  at  that  time  unwell,  and  incapable  of  attending 
to  the  inquiry ;  and  while  the  public  report  con- 
demned Mesmer  and  his  proceedings,  one  of  the 
commissioners,  who  had  paid  the  greatest  attention 
to  the  proceedings,  published  a  private  or  individual 
report  favorable  to  him.  But  in  the  year  1826,  the 
French  government  appointed  a  second  commission; 
and  their  report,  published  in  1831,  fully  admits  the 
truth  of  all  the  phenomena  usually  ascribed  to  animal 
magnetism. 

However,  our  business  is  not  so  much  with  the 
opinions  of  Mesmer,  or  that  of  his  friends  or  enemies, 
as  with  the  facts  and  phenomena  associated  with  his 
name.  It  was  soon  discovered  that  the  steel  rods 
had  but  little,  if  any  thing,  to  do  with  the  phenomena 
produced  ;  but  the  name  of  animal  magnetism  con- 
tinued to  be  used,  and  is  still  used  on  the  continent, 
and  by  this  name  the  practice  was  introduced  into 
England  a  few  years  ago.  But  the  English  inquirers 
into  this  remarkable  human  faculty,  finding  that  the 
use  of  a  name  which  implied  the  existence  of  a  fluid 


t)I>POSITION    LINE. 


25 


which  could  not  be  demonstrated  to  the  senses  was 
frequently  turned  into  an  argument  against  facts 
which  admitted  of  complete  demonstration,  adopted, 
out  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  Mesmer,  and  to 
avoid  the  appearance  of  the  adoption  of  any  theory 
of  their  own,  that  of  mesmerism;  just  as  magnetism 
is  applied  to  the  properties  of  the  loadstone,  from 
Magnes,  the  ancient  reputed  discoverer  of  its  powers, 
or  galvanism  to  the  discoveries  of  Galvani. 

Here  let  us  pause  a  moment  for  reflection.  If  \Ye 
wish  to  understand  the  subject,  we  must  begin  at  the 
root  of  the  matter.  It  appears  that  the  professor  of 
astronomy  at  Vienna,  believing  in  the  efficacy  of  the 
loadstone  as  a  remedy  in  human  disease,  invented  a 
peculiar  form  of  magnetized  steel  plates,  which  he 
used  for  that  purpose  with  success.  But  Mesmer 
discovered  what  he  thought  was  an  improved  mode 
of  using  them  ;  that  is,  by  manipulations^  or  passes. 

Some  who  read  this  will  readily  recollect  what  were 
called  Perkins's  tractors,  which  were  used  for  the  same 
purpose.  They  consisted  of  two  parts,  each  of 
pointed  and  polished  metal,  one  of  brass,  and  the 
other  of  magnetized  steel.  They  were  held  in  the 
hands  of  the  operator,  and  drawn  over  the  parts  of 
the  patient  affected.  In  some  cases,  the  effect  was 
said  to  be  wonderful;  but  when  mesmerism  was  in- 
troduced by  manipulations,  it  was  generally  admitted 
that  it  was  the  passes,  and  not  the  metallic  points, 
which  did  the  work.  Even  the  author  himself,  who 
is  a  believer  in  the  natural  agency  of  mesmerism,  and 
whose  language  we  have  just  quoted,  acknowledges 
that  "  it  was  soon  discovered  that  the  steel  rods  [used 
by  Mesmer]  had  but  little  if  any  thing  to  do  with  the 
phenomena  produced."  And  since  these  rods  were 
3 


26  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

evidently  designed  to  establish  connection  with  the 
patient  and  box  of  iron  filings  and  pounded  glass, 
if  the  rods  were  useless,  the  box  and  contents  were. 
And  that  the  plates  which  he  received  from  his  friend 
at  Vienna  were  also  useless  in  the  performance,  is 
abundantly  proved,  at  present,  by  the  fact  that  the 
same  effects  are  now  produced,  and  in  a  more  won- 
derful degree,  without  them. 

So  it  seems  evident  that  Mesmer's  experiments, 
and  also  those  of  the  astronomer  of  Vienna,  furnish 
us  no  evidence  of  the  germ  of  a  science  in  the  whole 
affair.  It  is  evident  they  were  impressed  with  the 
idea  that  magnetism  was  an  agent  that  might  be 
employed  in  the  cure  of  disease  ;  and  under  this  im- 
pression they  used  such  means  as  they  supposed 
would  convey  this  influence  to  their  patients,  each 
one  in  his  own  way.  Now,  if  magnetism  was  really 
the  agent  employed,  some  such  apparatus  was  abso- 
lutely necessary,  and  the  learned  professor's  philos- 
ophy was  strictly  according  to  the  laws  of  nature. 
But  every  instance  we  have  that  these  things  have 
since  been  done  without  apparatus  is  evidence  that 
Mesmer  knew  not  the  agent  called  into  action.  And 
here  we  cannot  pass  over  in  silence  the  discovery  of  a 
general  feature,  that  seems  to  run  through  mesmer- 
ism, in  all  its  various  forms,  from  beginning  to  end ; 
that  is,  the  results  in  mesmerism  correspond  to  the 
expectations  of  the  parties  concerned.  In  other  words, 
the  experiments  of  the  operator  prove  his  theory.  It 
matters  but  little  what  that  theory  is,  or  how  different 
the  theory  of  one  individual  may  be  from  that  of 
another ;  let  each  resort  to  mesmeric  experiments,  and 
each  will  find  in  it  the  proof  of  his  own. 

Let  this  general  feature  of  the  thing  be  borne  in 


OPPOSITION     LINE.  27 

mind  by  the  reader.  We  will  first  examine  the  ex- 
periments of  the  professor  of  astronomy  at  Vienna. 
He  believed  in  the  efficacy  of  the  loadstone  as  a 
remedy  in  human  disease.  This  was  his  theory.  He 
undoubtedly  expected  that,  if  he  could  apply  it  to  the 
patient,  he  should  succeed  in  effecting  a  cure.  He 
made  the  attempt,  and  succeeded  just  as  he  ex- 
pected. But  subsequent  experiments  have  long  since 
proved  that  his  plates  were  entirely  useless  in  his 
experiments  :  but  no  matter ;  he  thought  the  effect 
could  not  be  produced  without  them,  and,  of  course, 
he  could  not  do  without  them.  Mesmer  thought  if 
the  plates  were  used  in  a  different  manner,  by  being 
passed  over  the  patient  in  the  manner  now  called 
passes,  the  effect  would  still  be  greater.  He  tried  the 
experiment,  and  the  result  was  as  he  anticipated.  He 
outdid  the  old  professor  at  once.  But  subsequent 
experiments  have  long  since  proved  that  his  improved 
use  of  them,  together  with  his  box  and  polished  rods, 
have  no  more  to  do  with  the  phenomena  in  question 
than  Perkins's  tractors  had  in  curing  the  toothache. 
But  no  matter ;  he  thought  they  had,  and  that  an- 
swered his  purpose. 

Much  has  been  said  by  the  advocates  of  mesmer- 
ism, as  a  science,  concerning  the  report  of  the  com- 
missioners chosen  by  the  French  government  to  ex- 
amine the  thing.  But  it  does  not  appear  that  either 
of  these  commissions  acknowledged  that  the  thing 
had  any  claims  to  a  science.  The  first  reported  that 
the  whole  Vv^as  the  work  of  imagination  ;  the  second, 
that  of  1826,  and  published  in  1831,  admit  the  truth 
of  the  phenomena.  This  was  certainly  the  least  that 
any  commissioners  could  admit.  So  far,  therefore,  as 
any  thing  can  be  made  of  these  reports,  they  are 
against  mesmerism, 


28  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGltAPHI0 


CHAPTER    It. 

EXPERIMENTS   OF  THE  AUTHOR. 

It  has  already  been  noticed,  that,  as  the  subject 
was  introduced  into  this  country  under  the  name  of 
animal  magnetism,  my  first  experiments  were  to  as- 
certain whether  it  bore  any  resemblance  to  the  nat- 
ural magnet.  For  this  purpose,  an  artificial  magnet 
was  first  used,  (the  common  horseshoe  magnet,) 
which  seemed  to  have  a  powerful  effect  on  persons 
ill  the  magnetic  state,  by  which  they  could  be  drawn 
all  over  the  room.  It  also  further  appeared,  equally 
evident  that  one  side  of  a  magnetized  person,  called 
a  subject,  was  attracted  by  one  pole  of  the  magnet, 
and  repelled  by  the  opposite  ;  so  that  one  in  that 
state  was  a  complete  magnet  of  himself,  having  the 
two  poles  as  a  common  magnet.  This  led  me  to, 
reflect  that,  if  one  person  had  magnetic  polarity, 
another  had ;  and  if  there  was  any  law  of  nature 
about  it,  it  was  the  same  in  all  individuals,  and  the 
visible  polarity  exhibited  m  the  magnetic  state  might 
be  superinduced  by  the  latent  polarity  of  the  operator 
through  his  manipulations ;  and  if  so,  it  depended  on 
this  circumstance,  viz.,  that,  in  the  usual  way  of 
magnetizing,  the  right  hand  of  the  operator  came  in 
contact  with  the  left  side  of  the  subject,  and  his  left 
hand  in  contact  with  the  subject's  right ;  and  the 
effect  depended  on  the  opposite  poles  being  brought 
together.  Hence  it  was  easily  conjectured  that,  if  the 
process  was  so  changed  as  to  bring  the  two  right  and 


^  OPPOSITION    LINE,  29 

left  sides  of  the  parties  together,  a  contrary  effect 
would  be  produced.  So,  taking  an  easy  subject,  I 
performed  the  manipulations  with  my  arms  crossed, 
as  Jacob's  were  when  he  blessed  the  two  sons  of 
Joseph.  The  result  was  as  I  anticipated.  The  po- 
larity of  my  subject  seemed  changed,  so  that  the 
side  which,  in  the  usual  way  of  mesmerizing,  was 
attracted  by  the  north  pole  of  the  magnet,  was  now 
repelled  by  it.  This  is  certainly  the  most  illusory 
thin  Of  I  ever  met  with. 

What  philosopher^  while  he  supposed  himself  in- 
vestigating a  natural  agent^  and  treating  it  according 
to  certain  known  laws  of  nature,  and  finding  it,  to  all 
appearance,  obedient  to  those  laws,  would  ever  dream 
that  his  own  preferred  opinions  were  affecting  the 
result  of  his  experiments  ?  But  so  it  is.  I  was  not 
the  first  one  so  deceived.  Mesmer  himself  was  caught 
in  the  same  trap,  and  thousands,  to-day,  are  locked 
up  fast  in  the  jaws  of  the  same. 

As  magnetism  and  electricity  are  supposed,  by 
some,  to  be  but  modifications  of  the  same -agent  or 
power,  I  naturally  concluded  that  the  agent  I  sup- 
posed myself  dealing  with  might  be  nearer  allied 
to  the  latter.  Accordingly,  I  instituted  another  set 
of  experiments,  in  which  electrical  apparatus  was 
substituted  for  the  artificial  magnet.  I  first  tried  a 
Leyden  jar,  charged  in  the  usual  way,  and  found  its 
effects  still  more  evident  than  that  of  the  magnet.  It 
seemed  to  attract  and  repel  alternate  sides  of  my 
subject,  as  the  positive  or  negative  sides  of  the  jar 
were  presented.  The  experiments  in  mesmerism  are 
every  way  calculated  to  deceive  the  wary.  I  had  a 
theory  which  I  supposed  was  a  philosophical  one.  It 
was  predicated  upon  the  known  principles  of  elec- 
3* 


30  THE  Spiritual  telegraphic 

tricity  and  magnetism.  If  two  bodies,  both  pos- 
itively or  negatively  excited,  be  brought  near  each 
other,  they  repel ;  but  if  one  is  positively  excited,  and 
the  other  negatively,  they  will  attract.  I  had  already 
satisfied  myself,  that,  with  respect  to  magnetism,  one 
side  of  ray  subjects  possessed  north  polarity,  and  the 
other  south.  Now,  when  I  substituted  electricity  for 
magnetism,  I  obtained  additional  proof.  A  stick  of 
sealing  wax,  excited,  would  attract  one  side  of  my 
subjects,  while  an  excited  glass  rod,  or  tube,  would 
repel  the  same.  Now,  could  any  thing,  apparentlyy 
be  more  positively  and  plainly  demonstrated  ? 

I  next  used  a  delicate,  gold-leaf  electrometer ;  and 
at  first  I  fancied  it  was  affected  by  contact  with  one 
in  the  mesmeric  state;  but  when  I  began  to  doubt 
iriy  premises  and  review  my  former  experiments,  1 
reflected  that  my  experiments  VN^ith  the  electrometer 
were  mostly  made  in  the  same  room  where  my  elec- 
trical apparatus  was  kept  and  frequently  used ;  so 
that  the  effect  might  have  been  owing  to  that,  and 
not  affected  at  all  by  the  subject.  And  my  later 
experiments  prove  this  conjecture  to  be  true ;  else, 
like  most  other  experiments  in  mesmerism,  the  instru- 
ment was  affected  by  my  preferred  opinion.  But  I 
have  never  yet  learned  that  any  experimenter,  let  his 
opinion  be  what  it  may,  has  ever  been  able  to  detect 
electricity  in  mesmerism,  in  any  of  its  varied  forms, 
by  the  use  of  an  electrometer.  With  my  own  pres- 
ent opinion  on  this  subject,  I  do  not  believe  that  any 
mesmeric  experiment  can  be  so  conducted  as  to  effect 
a  gold-leaf  electrometer  held  in  my  hand. 

My  conviction  that  electricity  was  the  agent  called 
into  action  led  me  to  a  further  examination,  with  a 
view   to   ascertain,   if  possible,  whether   a   fluid,   or 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  31 

something  similar,  was  drawn  from^  or  imparted  to, 
the  subject.  The  result  was,  apparently,  that  one 
was  drawn  from  him,  and  I  supposed  it  was  the 
positive. 

In  these  experiments  I  labored  diligently  to  ascer- 
tain  in  what  manner  the  outside  of  a  Leyden  jar  is 
said  to  be  charged  by  induction.  It  is  well  known 
that,  if  either  side  or  coating  of  a  jar  be  charged 
either  positively  or  negatively,  the  other  side  or  coat- 
ing will  become  oppositely  charged  by  induction,  as 
it  is  called.  Now,  the  question  with  me  was.  Where 
does  the  charge,  by  induction,  come  from  ?  It  does 
not  come  from  the  same  machine  while  but  one  side 
of  the  jar  is  connected  wilfi  it.  For  instance :  the 
outside  of  a  jar  is  not  merely  and  necessarily  in  the 
negative  state  because  it  is  attached  to  a  machine, 
and  the  inside  charged  positively.  If  it  is,  an  insu- 
lated jar  might  be  charged  as  well  as  one  that  was 
not ;  which  is  not  the  case.  But  since  positive  and 
negative  electricities,  or  vitreous  and  resinous,  as 
they  are  called,  attract  each  other,  it  seems  this  mu- 
tual attraction  reaches  through  the  glass,  a  non- 
electric, and  holds  the  two  forces  to  its  coatings. 
That  this  is  the  case,  is  pretty  evident  from  the  fol- 
lowing experiment :  I  took  a  small  iron  rod,  and, 
having  attached  a  ball  to  each  end  of  it,  suspended 
it  on  its  centre  of  gravity  by  a  silk  cord.  It  was  then 
insulated.  I  then  charged  a  jar,  and  holding  a  large 
pane  of  glass  under  one  end  of  the  rod,  and  bringing 
the  knob  of  the  jar  up  to  it,  it  was  attracted  so  as  to 
decline  at  an  angle  of  nearly  forty-five  degrees  ;  and 
on  removing  the  glass,  and  charging  the  rod,  and  re- 
peating the  operation,  the  rod  was  as  much  repelled. 
This  fact  seemed  to  account  for  some  of  the  greater 


S2 


THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 


mysteries   in    mesmerism,   of  which    we   shall  speak 
hereafter. 

On  one  occasion,  while  magnetizing  a  subject 
seated  by  the  side  of  another,  both  easy  subjects,  I 
observed  that  they  both  seemed  affected  in  nearly  the 
same  degree.  I  immediately  concluded  they  were 
both  within  the  sphere  of  mesmeric  influence,  and 
only  needed  a  little  closer  union  to  be  equally  affected. 
Therefore  I  joined  their  hands  together,  and  contin- 
uing the  manipulations  on  the  one  I  commenced, 
put  them  both  into  the  magnetic  state  at  nearly  the 
same  time.  This  is  the  first  I  ever  knew  or  heard  of 
more  than  one  person's  being  mesmerized  at  once 
by  manipulations.  At  that  time  I  knew  nothing  of 
Mesmer's  process  of  producing  this  state.  It  was 
more  difficult  to  get  books  on  the  subject  then  than 
at  present.  But  as  the  circvumstance  was  in  harmony 
with  my  views  of  the  nature  of  the  thing,  I  tried  the 
experiment  still  further.  I  seated  two  subjects  at 
considerable  distance  from  each  other,  and  made  a 
connection  between  them  with  a  brass  wire  held  in 
the  hand  of  each ;  and  in  mesmerizing  one  in  the 
usual  way,  both  fell  into  the  mesmeric  or  abnormal 
state. 

My  next  step  was,  after  the  manner  of  Gray  and 
Wheeler's  experiments  in  electricity,  to  see  if,  at  a 
greater  distance,  the  same  effect  would  be  pro- 
duced. 

In  my  next  experiment  I  seated  my  subjects  about 
thirty  feet  apart,  and  run  a  wire  between  them  as 
before.  Still  the  effect  was  the  same  —  both  were 
mesmerized  at  once.  Extending  the  experiment  still 
further,  I  took  eight  persons,  and  formed  them  into 
a  circle    by  joining   their   hands;    and   being   within 


Opposition  lineI.  33 

tiiyself,  made  the  usual  passes  on  one,  and  five  out  of 
the  eight  became  mesmerized. 

This  was  probably  the  first  circle  mesmerizing 
known  in  this  country.  It  appears  that  Mesmer  ar- 
ranged his  subjects  in  a  circle  round  a  box  of  iron 
filings,  each  holding  in  the  hand  a  polished  metallic 
rod  communicating  with  the  contents  of  the  box, 
while  they  were  further  "  united  by  a  chain  encircling 
them."  This  he  supposed  was  necessary,  on  the  sup- 
position that  magnetism  was  the  agent  called  into 
action.  I  supposed  it  was  electricity,  and  formed  a 
circle  in  harmony  with  the  laws  which  govern  that 
agent,  while  Mesmer  formed  his  in  harmony  with 
what  he  thought  to  be  the  laws  of  magnetism.  Yet 
the  probability  is,  we  both  produced  the  same  effect 
because  we  both  expected  the  same.  This  appears 
to  be  the  most  mysterious  part  of  the  mystery,  and 
one  that  forbids  every  idea  of  there  being  a  natural 
agent  on  any  known  law  of  nature  concerned  in  the 
whole  affair.  Whether  this  was  the  first  circle  of  the 
kind  or  not,  is  not  easy  to  determine  ;  but  I  have  not 
yet  learned  that  any  one  else  formed  a  mesmeric 
circle  in  this  manner  until  after  my  published  account 
of  this,  which,  I  think,  was  in  the  winter  of  1842-3. 
But  it  is  now  claimed  that  such  circles  have  become 
the  connecting  link  between  heaven  and  earth  ;  or,  to 
speak  more  psychologically,  a  kind  of  spiritual  tel- 
egraph line  from  earth  to  the  spirit  land,  through 
which  the  most  wonderful  disclosures  are  made  by 
the  spirits  of  the  dead. 

At  the  tim.e  this  discovery  was  made,  I  regarded  it 
highly  interesting,  not  so  much  from  what  I  supposed 
would  be  its  future  usefulness,  as  from  its  novelty, 
and  the  wonderful  phenomena  it  presented ;  neither 


34  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

did  I  dream  of  the  evil  which  has  since  grown  out 
of  it.  Some  of  the  most  striking  features  presented 
by  the  circle  we  proceed  to  notice.  There  were  eight 
in  it,  and  five  were  mesmerized.  These  were  formed 
into  a  smaller  circle  after  throwing  out  the  three.  It 
then  appeared  that  this  reduced  circle  was  as  one 
individual.  Any  thing  which  affected  one,  affected, 
in  like  manner,  the  whole.  What  one  tasted  or  felt, 
was  tasted  or  felt  by  all.  If  a  phrenological  organ 
was  excited  in  the  head  of  one,  the  faculty  of  that 
organ  was  manifested  in  them  all.  Many  other 
amusing  phenomena  were  witnessed  at  this  time ; 
but  as  we  shall  have  occasion  to  refer  to  this  part  of 
the  subject  again,  we  pass  it  by  for  the  present. 


OPPOSITION    LINE!.  35 


CHAPTER     III. 

PHENOMENA  OF  MESMERISM. 

We  now  proceed  to  give  some  account  of  the 
phenomenon  of  the  mesmeric  state,  or,  as  it  is  by  late 
writers  sometimes  called,  the  psychic  state.  This 
state  really  consists  of  a  variety  of  states,  all  having 
one  common  character  or  generic  resemblance,  yet 
presenting  widely  diflf'erent  phenomena. 

1.  The  simple  mesmeric  drowsiness^  or  sleep. 

2.  Coma,  a  more  profound  sleep. 

3.  Insensibility  to  pain. 

4.  Phantasy,  the  state  in  which  the  subject  takes 
the  mere  suggestions  of  the  mind  of  the  operator  to 
be  realities. 

5.  Phreno-mesmerism  is  when  a  phrenological  organ 
of  the  subject  is  excited  by  the  operator,  the  faculty 
of  that  organ  is  aroused  to  action. 

6.  Clairvoyance,  the  faculty  of  seeing  without  the 
aid  of  either  light  or  natural  eyes,  called,  also,  cerebral 
lucidity,  inner  vision,  internal  or  spiritual  sight.  Of 
this  state  there  appear  to  be  several  degrees,  to  be 
treated  of  hereafter,  the  last  and  most  perfect  of 
which  is  death. 

7.  Catalepsy,  a  rigidity  of  the  muscles,  and  inabil- 
ity of  the   subject  to  move. 

8.  Transfer  of  state  and  feeling,  in  which  the  sub- 
ject feels  what  is  done  to  the  inesmerizer  as  if  it 
were  done  to  himself 

9.  Attraction  and  repulsion,  an  apparent  magnetic 


86  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

drawing  or  repelling  the  person  of  the  subject,  ap- 
parently contrary  to  his  inclinations. 

10.  Unity,  in  which  the  subject  seems  to  take  him- 
self to  be  the  same  individual  as  the  operator. 

Different  writers  have  used  different  names  for 
these  states,  but  they  mean  nearly  the  same.  Besides 
these,  there  is  another  feature  of  the  thing,  which  I 
do  not  recollect  its  ever  having  a  name ;  that  is,  as  a 
general  thing,  subjects  readily  hear  and  answer  their 
operators,  but  seem  incapable  of  hearing  or  answer- 
ing others,  or  being  conscious  of  their  presence.  To 
this  there  are,  however,  many  exceptions.  Another 
is,  a  subject  may  be  transferred  from  the  power  and 
influence  of  his  mesmerizer  into  the  hands  of  another 
person,  who  has  all  the  control  over  him  that  his 
mesmerizer  had,  though  the  second  person  may  not 
be  able  to  mesmerize.  But  it  must  not  be  supposed 
that  any  one  subject  may  be  made  to  exhibit  all 
these  states.  I  have  known  many  who  seemed  to- 
tally incapable  of  exhibiting  more  than  the  first  or 
second;  and  some  who  seemed  susceptible  of  the 
influence  sufficient  to  produce  the  state  of  drowsi- 
ness only,  which  would  also  show  some  symptoms 
of  a  higher  state. 

The  second  state,  at  the  first  appearance,  is  a  pro- 
found sleep,  from  which  the  subject  is  not  easil}'' 
aroused  but  by  his  mesmerizer.  In  this  -state  it  is 
common  to  find  subjects  more  or  less  insensible  to 
feeling  ;  and  when  they  have  the  least  of  their  own, 
they  most  readily  receive  the  feelings  of  their  op- 
erator. I  have  seen  some  as  apparently  insensible  to 
pain  as  a  corpse  ;  yet  the  least  scratch  of  a  pin  on 
my  hand  would  be  sensibly  and  acutely  felt  by  the 
subject.     And  what  was  very  singular,  if  the  scratch 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  37 

was  made  on  my  right  hand,  the  subject  felt  it  on  his 
left,  and  vice  versa.  It  is  also  common,  in  this  state, 
for  the  subject  to  smell  and  taste  what  the  operator 
does.  The  reader  will  understand  the  state  here 
spoken  of  is  what  is  called  coma,  or  sound  sleep  ;  and 
when  a  subject  is  sensible  to  the  feelings  of  his 
operator,  he  is  still  sound  asleep,  but  in  what  is  called 
transfer  of  state  and  feeling. 

We  will  next  consider  the  state  called  fantasy. 
Experiments  in  this  state  are  interesting  to  one  who 
believes  he  is  using  a  natural  agent,  and  often  very 
amusing.  My  own  method  was  to  hold  a  stick  in 
my  hands,  and,  after  the  manner  of  the  magicians  of 
Egypt,  cause  it  to  become  a  serpent.  This  was  done 
by  closing  my  eyes  and  fixing  my  mind  intensely  on 
a  writhing  serpent,  which  I  fancied  I  held  in  my 
hands,  then  place  it  in  the  lap  of  my  subject,  in 
whose  mind  it  became  a  serpent  in  reality.  Some- 
times a  glove  or  handkerchief  was  rolled  up,  and  in 
the  same  manner  made  to  become  a  chicken,  a  kitten, 
an  orange,  or  a  toad,  just  as  fancy  dictated. 

Phreno-mesmerism  will  next  claim  attention.  It 
was  generally  produced  by  exciting  the  phrenological 
organs  of  the  brain  of  the  subject,  by  making  a  few 
passes  over  them  for  that  purpose.  This  seemed  to 
call  the  faculty  of  the  organ  into  powerful  action  ; 
and  to  suspend  the  action  of  the  faculty  so  excited, 
the  passes  were  reversed. 

It  was  amusing  in  some  cases  to  witness  this 
effect.  Excite  the  organs  of  time  and  tune,  and  get 
the  subject  to  singing,  and  immediately  reverse  the 
passes,  that  is,  to  suspend  the  action  of  these  facul- 
ties, and  the  subject  would  stop  singing,  often  in  the 
middle  of  a  word.  Excite  the  organs  again,  and  he 
4 


38^  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

would  commence  just  where  he  left  off,  and  never 
seemed  to  forget  either  the  note  or  syllable  he  left  off 
at.  In  this  manner,  the  sensations  of  hunger  or 
thi7'st,  soIem7iity  or  mirthfulness^  anger,  love,  or  fear, 
may  all  be  made  to  succeed  each  other  in  rapid  suc- 
cession. 

As  we  wish  to  be  brief  in  these  descriptions,  we 
next  consider  the  more  wonderful  state  called  clair- 
voyance, in  v/hich  the  subject  at  first  has  a  faculty  of 
seeing  things  not  within  the  range  of  natural  vision. 
Such  objects  as  may  be  in  the  room,  but  not  in  sight 
of  the  subject,  —  objects  held  behind  the  head,  for  in- 
stance,—  are  distinctly  seen,  and  even  when  the  eyes 
are  bandaged.  By  degrees  this  faculty  seems  to  be 
e^^tended,  so  that  things  at  any  distance  may  be  seen. 
Most  operators  used  to  talk  of  two  states  of  this 
faculty  —  one  called  the  dependent  clairvoyance,  in 
which  it  was  supposed  nothing  could  be  seen  or 
described  by  the  subject,  except  what  was  seen  by 
the  operator,  or  present  in  his  mind  at  the  time.  But 
it  was  ^  long  time  an  unsettled  question  whether 
such  a  thing  as  independent  clairvoyance  existed  or 
not ;  that  is^  whether  a  subject  could,  in  any  case,  see 
or  know  things  of  which  the  operator  himself  was  en- 
tirely ignorant.  But  a  multitude  of  facts  have  abun- 
dantly proved  that  it  is  even  so.  Some  of  my  clair- 
voyants have  described  things  accurately,  of  which  I 
knew  nothing  at  the  time,  and  such  as  they  could  not 
have  known  by  the  ordinary  means  of  knowledge. 
More  recently,  mesmerizers  enumerate  two  or  three 
other  and  still  higher  states  of  clairvoyance.  The 
first  is  called  induced  mesmeric  extasis  or  trance ; 
the  second,  spontaneous  extasis ;  the  third  is  death. 
The  first  of  these  is  the  state  induced  by  mesmerism, 


OPPOSITION    LINE. 


39 


in  which  visions  are  had,  and  intercourse  held  with 
the  spirits  of  the  dead.  The  second,  as  its  name 
indicates,  is  nearly  the  same  as  the  first,  but  in  a 
higher  degree,  and  entered  into  spontaneously,  or 
without  the  aid  of  mesmerism.  The  difference  be- 
tween the  two  seems  to  be  this  :  Whatever  occurs  to, 
or  is  seen  by,  one  in  the  induced  extasis,  is  forgotten 
upon  the  return  of  the  normal  state ;  while  one  in 
the  spontaneous  extasis,  or,  as  it  is  sometimes  called, 
the  SUPERIOR  state^  recollects  all  on  returning  to  the 
normal  state.  The  third  is  the  perfect  state  of  ex- 
tasis. As  a  fair  specimen  of  the  clairvoyant  faculty, 
we  subjoin  the  following,  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Had- 
dock, an  English  operator :  — 

"  Besides  the  power  of  seeing  by  an  internal  sight 
such  things  as  were  put  into  her  hands,  or  to  which 
her  attention  was  directed,  Emma  would  sometimes 
manifest  a  sort  of  apparently  omnipresent  vision. 
Thus  she  has  frequently  been  asked  to  find  missing 
or  lost  articles.  After  a  few  minutes'  consideration, 
she  has  said  where  they  might  be  found  ;  or,  in  other 
cases,  got  up  and  pointed  out  the  place  where  they 
lay  concealed.  And  this  she  has  repeatedly  done 
when  there  was  the  most  undoubted  evidence  that 
neither  herself  in  the  normal  condition,  nor  the  mes- 
merizer,  nor  any  other  individual,  knew  the  situation 
of  the  articles  she  was  desired  to  look  for.  This 
power  has  been,  on  most  occasions,  called  into  exer- 
cise chiefly  for  the  sake  of  experiment,  and  to  test 
its  reality  ;  but  it  has  also  been  applied  to  purposes 
of  use.  The  following  is  a  remarkable  instance,  and 
also  valuable,  as  placing  the  reality  and  powers  of 
clairvoyance  or  internal  sight  beyond  the  reach  of 
cavil  or  contradiction  :  — 


40  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

" '  On  Wednesday  evening,  Dec.  20,  1848,  Mr. 
Wood,  grocer,  of  Cheapside,  Bolton,  had  bis  cash 
box,  witli  its  contents,  stolen  from  his  counting  house. 
x\fter  applying  to  the  police,  and  taking  other  pre- 
cautionary steps,  and  having  no  clew  to  the  thief, 
though  he  suspected  what  proved  to  be  an  innocent 
party,  and  having  heard  of  Emma's  powers  as  a 
clairvoyant,  he  applied  to  me,  to  ascertain  whether,  by 
her  means,  he  could  discover  the  party  who  had  taken 
it,  or  recover  his  property.  I  felt  considerable  hes- 
itation in  employing  Emma's  powers  for  such  a  pur- 
pose, fearing  that  both  the  motive  and  agency  might 
be  grossly  misrepresented.  But  the  amount  at  stake, 
the  opportunity  of  experiment,  and  Mr.  Wood  being 
a  neighbor,  induced  me  to  comply  with  his  request ; 
and  nine  o'clock,  next  morning,  was  appointed  for 
the  trial.  At  that  hour  Mr.  Wood  came  to  my  res- 
idence, and  I  then  put  Emma,  by  mesmerism,  into 
the  internal  state,  and  then  told  her  that  Mr.  Wood 
(whom  I  put  en  rapport^  as  it  is  called,  with  her)  had 
lost  his  cash  box,  and  I  wished  her  to  tell  us,  if  she 
could,  where  the  box  was  taken  from,  what  was  in  it, 
and  who  took  it.  She  remained  silent  a  few  minutes, 
evidently  mentally  seeking  for  what  she  had  been 
requested  to  discover.  Presently  she  began  to  talk 
with  an  imaginary  person,  as  if  present  in  the  room 
with  us  ;  but  as  it  subsequently  proved,  although  in- 
visible and  imaginary  to  us,  he  was  both  real  and  vis- 
ihle  to  her;  for  she  had  discovered  the  thief,  and  was 
conversing  with  his  mind  on  the  robbery.  She  de- 
scribed, in  the  course  of  this  apparent  conversation, 
and  afterwards  to  us,  where  the  box  was  placed, 
what  the  general  nature  of  its  contents  was,  partic- 
ularizing some  documents  it  contained,  how  he  took 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  41 

it,  and  that  he  did  not  take  it  away  to  his  residence 
at  once,  but  hid  it  up  an  entry ;  and  her  description 
of  his  person,  dress,  associations,  &c.,  was  so  vivid, 
that  Mr.  Wood  immediately  recognized  the  purloiner 
of  his  property  in  a  person  the  last  to  be  suspected. 
Feeling  satisfied,  from  the  general  accuracy  of  her 
descriptions,  and  also  from  her  describing  the  contents 
of  the  box,  that  she  had  really  pointed  out  the  delin- 
quent, Mr.  Wood  went  directly  to  the  house  where  he 
resided,  and  which  she  had  pointed  out,  even  to  the 
letters  on  the  doorplate,  and  insisted  on  his  accom- 
panying him  to  my  house,  or,  in  case  of  refusal,  to 
the  police  office. 

"  '  When  brought  and  placed  in  connection  with 
Emma,  she  started  back  from  him  as  if  he  had  been 
.^  serpent,  telling  him  that  he  was  a  bad  man,  and 
observing  also  that  he  had  not  the  same  clothes  on  as 
yjrhen  he  took  the  box,  which  was  the  fact.  He 
xlftnied  strenuously  all  knowledge  of  the  robbery  then 
^d  up  to  a  late  hour  in  the  afternoon  ;  but  as  he 
.\yas  not  permitted  to  go  at  large,  and  thus  had  no  op- 
portunity for  destroying  or  effectually  concealing  the 
box,  and  as  Mr.  Wood  had  promised,  for  the  sake  of 
his  connections,  not  to  prosecute,  if  confession  was 
made  and  the  box  and  contents  recovered,  he  at  last 
admitted  that  he  had  taken  it  in  the  manner  described 
by  Emma ;  and  the  box  and  contents  were  found  in 
the  place  where  he  had  secreted  them,  broken  open, 
but  the  property  safe.  It  should  be  observed  that 
Emma  had  pointed  out  the  place  where  the  box  was 
concealed  ;  but  we  could  not  be  certain  of  the  place 
she  meant,  without  permitting  her,  while  in  the  inter- 
nal state,  to  lead  us  to  it.  This  the  confession  ren- 
dered unnecessary.'  " 
4* 


42  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

Such  is  clairvoyance.  A  greater  mystery,  perhaps, 
was  never  known.  The  circumstance  just  related  is 
one  among  many  that  are  less  successful.  Some  of 
our  American  clairvoyants  have  sometimes  been  as 
successful  as  Emma,  and  again  and  again  have 
proved  a  total  failure. 

To  assign  a  reason  for  this  is  very  difficult.  It  is 
evident  there  can  be  no  philosophical  reason  given 
for  their  frequent  failures,  until  there  can  be  such  a 
reason  given  why  they  should  sometimes  be  successful. 
This  has  never  been  done.  About  the  time  clair- 
voyants began  to  be  multiplied  in  this  country, 
(1843-4,)  there  was  considerable  excitement  on  the 
subject,  and  many  were  the  shrewd  guesses  to  what 
it  would  finally  amount.  But  none  guessed  its  pres- 
ent claims ;  that  is,  being  a  medium  through  which 
to  communicate  with  the  spirits  of  the  dead.  Those 
who  were  most  intent  on  extending  the  sphere  of 
human  knowledge,  and  whose  expectations  were 
highly  raised,  sent  clairvoyants  into  every  part  of 
the  universe  of  God,  not  excepting  heaven  and 
hell. 

On  finding  myself  in  possession  of  one,  my  first 
object  was  to  penetrate  creation's  utmost  bound,  and 
with  one  bold  stroke  to  rend  the  veil  of  the  curtained 
heavens,  and  steal  a  critic's  view  of  distant  worlds  ; 
and,  with  one  enormous  leap,  to  pass  the  immeas- 
urable space  between  us  and  those  planets  that 
circle  the  utmost  distant  stars,  and  bring  to  light 
the  record  of  worlds  beyond  the  reach  of  eye  or 
glass. 

This  may  seem  too  great  a  work  for  a  sane  mind 
to  anticipate.  But  take  the  position  that  must  be 
taken  by  a  believer  in  the   independent   clairvoyant 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  43 

faculty,  and  to  this  faculty  space  is  annihilated,  and 
all  this  may  be  expected.  For  by  such  a  faculty,  one 
might  as  well  describe  a  scene  on  Canis  Major  as  in 
an  adjoining  room.  The  next  state  to  be  considered 
is  catalepsy.  By  this  is  understood  a  rigidity  of  the 
muscles  of  the  subject.  The  first  complete  state  that 
ever  fell  under  my  observation  was  that  of  a  lady 
whom  I  undertook  to  mesmerize,  and  who  also  de- 
sired it,  but  dreaded  the  idea  of  losing  her  conscious- 
ness, and  insisted  on  being  mesmerized  awake.  To 
this  I  consented,  telling  her,  jestingly,  she  might  do 
as  she  pleased  about  going  to  sleep.  And  indeed  she 
did,  for  she  successfully  resisted  every  effort  I  could 
make  to  close  her  eyes  or  produce  the  first  symptoms 
of  drowsiness ;  but  being  determined  to  succeed  in 
some  respect,  I  finally  produced  the  most  singular 
case  of  catalepsy  that  I  ever  witnessed.  There  sat 
my  subject,  to  all  appearance,  in  a  perfectly  normal 
state,  conversing  with  her  friends  as  usual.  She  had 
the  power  also  to  turn  her  head  as  usual;  but  every 
joint  and  muscle  below  the  neck  was  fixed  as  in  a 
frost,  as  immovable  as  a  block  of  marble.  The  ob- 
servation I  made  at  the  time,  was,  "  she  was  all  mes- 
merized but  her  head."  The  state  is,  however,  fre- 
quently produced  upon  a  limb,  a  hand,  or  even  a 
finger,  and  not  on  the  whole  person  at  once.  It  is 
generally  produced  by  making  passes  over  the  part 
designed  to  be  made  cataleptic.  On  this  subject,  Dr. 
Haddock  uses  the  following  language :  — 

"  In  a  majority  of  cases,  manipulations,  actual  con- 
tact, or  audibly  spoken  words  are  necessary  to  pro- 
duce the  desired  result ;  but  in  some  cases,  the  mere 
volition  of  the  operator  is  sufficient." 

The  reader  will   notice,   as   he  passes   along,  that 


44  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

whatever  means  are  usually  resorted  to,  to  produce 
mesmeric  phenomena,  in  the  end  they  may  be  pro- 
duced without  any  other  than  the  effort  of  the  will. 
And  it  has  not  yet  been  proved  that  a  master  op- 
erator need  depend  on  any  thing  hut  his  wilL 


OPPOSITION    LINE. 


45 


CHAPTER    IV. 

CLAIRVOYANCE   CONTINUED. 

We  have  already  noticed  the  excitement  this  fac- 
ulty produced  when  the  existence  of  it  was  fairly 
demonstrated.  Fancy  painted  to  herself  that  it  might 
be  made  to  subserve  almost  any  purpose.  Men  of 
every  grade,  from  the  tinker  and  cobbler  to  the  judge 
and  divine,  thought  they  saw  in  it  the  master  key  to 
their  respective  professions.  The  surgeon  and  dentist 
had  only  to  mesmerize  their  afflicted  patients  to  per- 
form their  hitherto  torturing  operations;  while  pain, 
that  cruel  spoiler  of  human  happiness,  was  allowed 
no  part  or  lot  in  the  matter. 

The  physician,  too,  saw  in  it  the  secret  of  his  art. 
He  had  only  to  send  his  clairvoyant  inside  of  his 
patient  to  learn  the  secret  cause  of  the  malady  and 
the  appropriate  remedy  for  the  same.  As  the  artist 
who  undertakes  to  repair  the  deranged  machinery  of 
a  A\^atch  opens  it,  and,  with  a  microscopic  eye,  crit- 
ically surveys  its  inmost  parts,  by  which  he  is  enabled 
so  to  adjust  them  as  to  keep  measured  pace  with 
Father  Time  in  his  rapid  and  unreturning  flight, 
so  the  physician,  by  the  aid  of  this  wonderful  faculty, 
fancies  he  is  no  longer  doomed  to  deal  his  nostrums 
at  the  symptoms  of  disease,  like  an  unskilful  sports- 
man, who  fires  a  random  shot  at  a  bird  or,  for  aught 
he  knows,  the  shadow  of  one,  which,  if  he  hits,  'tis 
well ;  if  not,  he  consoles  himself  with  having  made  a 
learned  shot ;  but   now,    through    clairvoyance,   pos- 


'46  THE    SPIRITUAL    TEL'EG'RAPHIC 

sesses  the  certain  means  of  scattering  his  death  shot 
with  unerring  aim  at  the  mortal  pestilence  of  man, 
and  forcing  the  king  of  terrors  to  retire,  with  modest 
step,  far  beyond  the  shades  of  threescore  and  ten. 
(See  a  notice  at  the  close  of  this  chapter.) 

So  also  the  sufferer  of  lost  or  stolen  property  saw 
in  it  the  ready  means  of  restoration.  For  this  purpose, 
clairvoyants  were  sent  in  pursuit  -of  the  thief,  who, 
like  the  sagacious  hound,  would  pursue  him  step  by 
•step  through  his  midnight  rambles  to  his  secret  den, 
and  there  describe  the  pilfered  gain. 

Again  :  the  mineralogist  saw  in  it  the  means  of  en- 
riching bimself  with  the  precious  ores  hid  in  the 
womb  iof  Mother  Earth.  Clairvoyants  were  sent 
through  the  base  of  Alpine  rocks  in  search  of  the 
precious  ores,  and  barren  mountains  were  made  to 
groan  with  the  weight  of  gold  contained  in  their  cav- 
erns, shut  up  for  ages,  and  hitherto  concealed  from 
humaji  view  by  superincumbent  strata,  which  now, 
as  transparent  glass,  readily  admit  the  all-seeing  eye 
of  this  mysterious  agent  to  view  their  golden  store. 
The  moralist,  too,  saw  in  it  the  elements  of  a  com- 
plete mora.1  reform  ;  for  by  it  the  secret  deeds  of  mid- 
night villany  .may  be  as  manifest  as  the  noonday  acts 
of  an  honest  man ,;  and  w^here  villany  has  no  veil  to 
hide  it,  it  were  an  easy  matter  to  chase  it  out  of  the 
world. 

But  I  have  never  yet  learned  that  crime  has  been 
any  the  less  for  this  faculty,  from  which  it  is  said 
nothing  can  be  hid.  But  such  were  the  anticipations 
of  many.  The  thing  was  considered  in  its  infancy, 
and  men  but  little  acquainted  with  its  principles. 
But  it  was  thought  the  time  would  soon  arrive  when 
it  would  be  more  perfectly  understood,  and  a  new 


OPPOSITION     LINE.  47 

science  added  to  the  sum  of  human  knowledge, 
which,  like  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude,  would  out- 
shine every  other  in  the  firmament  of  human  wisdom. 

But  this  is  in  very  bad  keeping  with  the  present 
rapid  march  of  human  wisdom.  It  is  now  seventy- 
five  years  since  Mesmer  introduced  it  into  France. 
Since  that  time,  it  has  more  or  less  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  literati  in  various  enlightened  nations. 
Let  the  reader  step  back  seventy-five  years,  and  take 
a  survey  of  chemistry,  natural  philosophy,  geology, 
mineralogy,  electricity,  and  galvanism,  with  the  arts 
and  inventions  of  that  day,  and  compare  the  same 
with  those  of  the  present  time,  and  say,  Why  is  it 
that  man  seems  to  have  perfected  his  knowledge  of 
every  thing  else  ?  —  still,  mesmerism,  as  then,  remains 
involved  in  the  shades  of  mystery. 

But  we  hasten  to  notice  still  further  what  seems  to 
be  a  general  feature  of  the  thing.  The  reader  will 
recollect  that,  in  my  own  experiments,  the  results 
seemed  to  be  just  according  to  my  prepossessed  opin- 
ion, and,  as  far  as  my  knowledge  of  the  thing  extends, 
it  is  more  or  less  so  with  the  experiments  of  others. 
This  is  one  of  the  great  mysteries  of  the  thing.  A 
person  investigating  it,  and  confining  his  observations 
to  his  own  experiments  alone,  is  in  a  school  where 
not  even  the  alphabet  of  the  mystery  is  known  or 
taught ;  nor  can  he  ever  learn  it  until  he  diligently 
compares  the  experiments  and  results  of  many  op- 
erators of  different  minds  and  different  theories.  We 
will  take,  for  instance,  the  clairvoyant  faculty.  My 
first  use  of  it  was  to  gain  a  knowledge  of  the  distant 
heavenly  bodies ;  and  for  this  purpose,  I  sent  my 
clairvoyant  to  the  moon,  to  begin  with,  and  the  intel- 
ligence  I  obtained  was  just  what  I  had   for   years 


48  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

before  been  in  the  habit  of  giving  in  my  public  lec- 
tures on  astronomy.  So  that  neither  myself  nor  the 
world  were  any  wiser  than  before ;  for  my  clairvoyants 
only  reflected  my  own  opinion.  Others,  whose  phil- 
osophical views  of  that  secondary  differ  materially 
from  mine,  sent  their  subjects  to  it,  and  obtained 
descriptions  of  it  corresponding  to  their  theories.  As 
it  was  supposed  nothing  can  exist  beyond  the  reach 
of  this  faculty,  I  thought  we  were  in  possession  of 
the  means  of  settling  the  great  question  relative  to  a 
future  state  of  existence  ;  so  I  sent  clairvoyants  to 
heaven  and  hell ;  at  least,  I  requested  them  to  explore 
those  places.  But  they  always  had  some  excuse ; 
either  they  could  not  be  persuaded  to  go,  or  they 
could  not  find  such  places.  The  fact  was,  I  was 
totally  infidel  with  regard  to  revealed  religion,  and,  of 
course,  did  not  believe  in  the  existence  of  such  places. 
Some  of  my  brother  mesmerizers,  of  religious  faith, 
had  better  success.  They  sent  their  clairvoyants  to 
these  places,  and  obtained  such  descriptions  of  them 
as  corresponded  precisely  to  their  creeds.  The  clair- 
voyant of  a  Universalist  described  heaven  as  the  hap- 
py rendezvous  of  the  human  race,  but  could  find  no 
hell.  Some  of  more  orthodox  faith  sent  clairvoyants 
to  "the  spirit  world,"  who,  after  describing  the  joys  of 
the  blessed,  looked  from  the  confines  of  heaven,  doivn, 
down,  where  Milton's  devil  fell  "  nine  days  and  nights," 
into  the  horrid  pit,  where  lay  the  spirits  of  the  damned, 
writhing  on  liquid  billows  of  fire  and  brimstone,  and 
sending  forth  unceasing  shrieks  of  eternal  woe  and 
agony. 

We  have  given  the  reader  some  account  of  Emma, 
the  clairvoyant  and  medium  of  Dr.  Haddock  of  Eng- 
land.     The    doctor    says,    "  Her    ideas    of    religion 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  49 

J 

were  principally  derived  from  the  teachings  of  a  vil- 
lage schoolmistress,  in  connection  with  the  church 
of  England,  and  from  occasional  attendance  at  pub- 
lic services  of  the  church." 

Again,  the  doctor  says,  speaking  of  the  revelations 
she  has  made  while  in  the  state  of  spontaneous  ex- 
tasis  or  trance,  "  All  that  she  has  said  tends  to  con- 
firm the  distinction  between  moral  good  and  moral 
evil,  and  the  impossibility  of  those  who  depart  this 
life  in  a  state  of  moral  evil  attaining  hereafter  to  a 
state  of  moral  goodness  ;  in  this  respect  being  strik- 
ingly dissimilar  to  the  statements  of  Davis,  the  Amer- 
ican clairvoyant,  but  who,  according  to  his  own 
subsequent  statements,  had  never  been  in  the  state 
of  true  spiritual  extasis  when  he  delivered  his  lec- 
tures in  the  mesmeric  state."  This  turns  the  box 
and  lets  out  the  mouse.  Emma's  ideas  of  religion 
were  derived,  directly  or  indirectly,  from  the  church 
of  England  ;  and  her  spiritual  disclosures  "  confirm 
the  distinction  between  moral  good  and  moral  evil, 
and  the  impossibility  of  those  who  depart  this  life  in 
a  state  of  moral  evil  attaining  hereafter  to  a  state 
of  moral  goodness."  Now,  from  Emma's  disclosures, 
we  know  just  as  much  about  the  future  state  as 
the  church  of  England  does,  and  no  more  ;  and  from 
disclosures  made  by  my  clairvoyants,  we  know  just 
as  much  about  the  inhabitants  of  the  distant  planets 
as  I  believed  about  them  before  I  sent  them,  and  no 
more.  From  whence  the  doctor  derived  his  ideas  of 
religion,  he  does  not  inform  us ;  but  from  some  of 
Emma's  disclosures,  I  should  think  he  was  a  little 
tinged  with  German  neology. 

So  also  from  the  disclosures  of  Davis.  The  world 
knows  just  as  much  about  the  future  state  of  the 
o 


^ 


50  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

dead  as  Davis   himself  knows  when  in  the   normal 
state,  and  no  more. 

As  Emma  seems  to  be  somewhat  a  noted  English 
clairvoyant,  w^e  must  give  the  reader  an  account  of 
her  visit  to  the  moon,  and  her  lunar  description  of 
that  planet,  as  it  comes  to  us  in  the  language  of  her 
mesmerizer :  — 

"  Her  statements  were  to  the  effect  that  the  moon 
is  inhabited ;  that  the  inhabitants  she  saw  were  very 
small  —  dwarfs  —  not  larger  than  children  on  our 
earth.  Their  heads  were  large  in  proportion  to  their 
bodies,  and  the  mouth  vertical  rather  than  horizontal ; 
their  voices  harsh  and  rough,  and  resembling  the 
sound  of  distant  thunder ;  and  when  they  spoke,  the 
speech  seemed  to  come  up  from  the  bowels.  Their 
insides  were  not  quite  like  ours  —  their  lungs,  espe- 
cially, were  different.  She  saw  food — something 
that  looked  somewha.t  like  bread,  but  they  did  not 
call  it  by  that  name.  She  saw  only  one  animal, 
something  like  a  small  pig.  Their  dwellings  were 
constructed  of  pieces  of  rocks,  covered  over  with 
green  stuff  resembling,  gorse.  They  were  very  low, 
for  she  could  put  her  hand  to  the  top.  The  place  did 
not  look  like  what  she  conceived  the  moon  to  be  ; 
but  a  large  place,  and  very  rocky,  with  immense 
precipices  and  lofty  mountains.  The  '  little  folks,' 
as  she  called  the  inhabitants,  could  clamber  up  these 
rocks  with  their  hands  and  feet,  so  fast  that  she  could 
not  catch  them.  '  Is  there  any  water  there  ?  '  '  Yes ; 
but  it  does  not  look  like  our  water,  but  more  like 
milk  and  water,  and  yet  is  clear.  (Meaning,  probably, 
that  it  is  of  greater  density  than  our  water.)  It  lies 
in  the  bottom  of  hollows,  and  down  the  steep  preci- 
pices.    The  "  little  folks  "  can  walk  on  this  water,  and 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  51 

not  sink.  They  are  very  light.  They  wear  clothes, 
but  they  are  very  simple,  and  all  alike.  They  seem 
good  sort  of  people.  They  have  a  curious  way  of 
jumping  on  the  back  of  each  other.  A  very  little 
baby  was  seen  in  a  sort  of  cradle.  It  died.  They 
said,  What  signified  that  ?  it  had  gone  to  sleep  ;  but 
they  did  not  mean  sleep,  but  that  it  was  dead. " 

As  the  attention  of  the  world  is  so  much  turned  to 
the  clairvoyant  faculty,  or  spiritual  disclosures,  there 
are  some  points  in  this  lunar  description  which  claim 
particular  attention.  And  first,  we  shall  notice  that 
Emma  is  not  a  scholar.  Her  mesmerizer  says  she 
can  neither  read  nor  write  ;  hence  it  is  not  probable 
that  she  knows  much  of  astronomy  as  a  science. 
Yet  a  part  of  her  descriptions  of  the  moon  is  certainly 
scientific,  while  other  parts  of  it  are  certainly  the 
mere  effect  of  fancy.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  the 
philosophical  knowledge  of  her  mesmerizer  might 
have  tinged  her  description.  She  describes  the  moon 
as  being  rocky,  abounding  in  immense  precipices  and 
lofty  mountains.  Every  one  familiar  with  the  discov- 
eries made  by  astronomers,  with  the  best  telescopes, 
know  this  to  be  universally  admitted.  Her  mountain 
scenery  is,  by  astronomers,  often  beautifully  and 
sublimely  portrayed.  Her  circular  ranges  of  precip- 
itous mountains,  enclosing  a  plain  with  a  single 
conical  mountain  in  the  centre,  has  been  the  wonder 
and  admiration  of  astronomers  of  modern'  times. 
They  are  described  as  being  higher  in  proportion 
than  terrestrial  mountains,  having  immense  quan- 
tities of  debris  piled  up,  or  scattered  in  wild  con- 
fusion at  their  base,  which  is  overhung  with  immense 
projecting  crags,  threatening  to  fall  below  to  increase 
the  quantity  already  there. 


k 


52  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

Again:  her  description  of  the  "little  folks"  is,  in 
part,  too  scientific  to  be  wholly  the  work  of  imagi- 
nation. She  describes  them  as  very  light,  and  en- 
dowed with  extreme  agility  to  clamber  up  the  steep 
rocks.  Now,  the  magnitude  of  the  moon  is  about 
one  forty-seventh  part  that  of  the  earth,  and  its 
density  about  equal  to  glass;  while  that  of  the  earth 
is  nearly  equal  to  cast  iron  ;  and  from  the  known 
principles  of  gravitation,  a  body  weighing  one  hun- 
dred pounds  on  the  earth  would  weigh  but  about 
sixteen  on  the  moon.  So  that,  if  a  full-grown  person 
should  be  carried  there,  he  would  weigh  but  about 
twenty-six  pounds;  and,  possessing  but  a  terrestrial 
degree  of  agility,  he  could  jump  upon  another's  back 
as  well  as  Emma's  "little  folks."  So  it  may  appear, 
at  first,  that  her  ignorance  of  these  facts  is  in  favor 
of  the  clairvoyant  faculty.  This  might  be  reasonably 
inferred,  provided  they  are  as  unknown  to  her  mes- 
merizer  as  they  probably  are  to  her,  which  we  pre- 
sume is  not  the  case.  But  she  says  their  voices  were 
"  harsh  and  rough,"  resembling  "  distant  thunder." 
This  is  one  of  the  common  errors  of  clairvoyants. 
From  repeated  and  critical  observations  made  on  the 
moon  when  passing  Jupiter  and  some  of  the  larger 
fixed  stars,  it  has  been  ascertained  that  her  atmos- 
phere cannot  exceed  half  a  mile  in  height,  and  ex- 
ceedingly rare  at  that.  Such  an  atmosphere  would 
scarcely  transmit  sound.  On  the  top  of  Mont  Blanc, 
which  is  only  15,668  feet  high,  the  voice,  in  speaking, 
is  heard  comparatively  but  a  short  distance,  and  the 
report  of  a  pistol  is  proportionally  diminished,  owing 
to  the  great  rarity  of  the  atmosphere ;  yet  our  at- 
mosphere is  known  to  reflect  light  forty-five  miles 
above  the  earth's  surface,  and  the  report  of  a  burst- 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  53 

ing  or  exploding  meteor  has  been  heard  from  the 
distance  of  above  seventy  miles  above  the  earth. 
Our  atmosphere  must,  therefore,  be  at  least  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  times  denser  than  that  of  the  moon. 
Yet  Emma's  "little  folks"  had  voices  like  distant 
thunder.  They  must  be  a  strong-lunged  race  of 
beings  ;  for  the  loudest  thunder  known  to  us  could 
not  be  heard  at  the  usual  speaking  distance  in  such 
an  atmosphere  as  that  of  the  moon.  This  spoils  the 
whole  story,  and  proves  that  clairvoyance  must  be 
accounted  for  in  some  other  way  than  by  things  being 
actually  seen.  Now,  why  will  people  suffer  them- 
selves to  be  led  into  the  mire  by  this  ignis  fatuus, 
rather  than  follow  the  dictates  of  sober  reason  and 
common  sense  ? 

My  own  clairvoyant  described  the  moon  very  dif- 
ferently. She  said  it  was  not  inhabited  ;  that  there 
was  no  water  there,  and  so  little  air,  she  could 
scarcely  breathe  ;  and  that  there  was  no  vegetation 
there,  and  scarcely  any  tking  that  resembled  earth, 
but  all  was  barren  rock.  Her  description  of  the 
mountains  was  similar  to  that  of  Emma's.  We 
could  offer  many  philosophical  reasons  for  there  being 
neither  animals  nor  plants  on  the  moon  like  those  on 
the  earth.  By  our  best  telescopes,  a  spot  on  the 
moon,  less  than  two  hundred  feet  in  diameter,  may 
be  distinctly  seen.  There  is  no  water  of  that  extent ; 
and  if  there  is  an^,  it  would  not  evaporate  in  so  thin 
an  atmosphere.  Therefore,  there  is  no  rain  or  dew 
there.  No  clouds  have  ever  been  seen  there.  Emma 
represents  the  "  little  folks "  as  subject  to  death. 
They  are  sinners,  then,  and  in  a  fallen  state.  I 
wonder  if  they  have  any  plan  of  salvation. 
5* 


54  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

The  following  appeared  in  "  The  Hartford  Daily 
Times,"  June  3,  1853  :  — 

"Clairvoyant  Examinations. -—Pnce  established 
for  Examination  of  Disease  and  Prescription  per- 
sonally^  One  Dollar.  —  Dr.  Sivan  and  Madame  John- 
son,  of  New  York  City.  —  These  well-known  cel- 
ebrated mesmeric  and  botanic  physicians  have  ar- 
rived in  town,  and  taken  rooms  at  the  Revere  House, 
Main  Street,  Hartford,  Conn.,  for  a  short  time,  where 
they  will  be  happy  to  wait  upon  all  those  who  may 
favor  them  with  a  call.  Through  the  solicitations  of 
their  patients,  the  doctor  has  concluded  to  remain 
here  for  a  time  longer,  to  accommodate  the  sick. 
Other  engagements  will  compel  him  to  be  absent  for 
a  short  time ;  but  he  will  soon  return  and  locate  him- 
self permanently  in  this  city,  where  he  will  endeavor 
to  exert  his  best  abilities  in  relieving  the  afflicted. 
He  would  say  to  those  who  may  wish  their  advice, 
either  mesmerically  or  otherwise,  that  no  one  need 
hesitate  a  moment  in  hawng  an  examination  made 
of  their  system,  if  diseased ;  if  not  satisfied,  no  pay 
will  be  taken. 

"  Madame  Johnson,  while  in  the  clairvoyant  sleep, 
will  describe  to  the  patient,  point  out  the  symptoms, 
locate  the  disease,  and  prescribe  the  remedy  that  will 
make  a  speedy  cure.  She  has  successfully  examined, 
within  the  last  eight  years,  over  twenty-four  thousand 
patients,  and  has  not,  as  yet,  been  known  to  make  a 
failure.  Her  examinations  are  all  warranted  to  be 
correct ;  thousands  are  ready  to  testify  to  this  fact ; 
no  other  clairvoyant  dare  make  this  assertion ;  she 
can  confidently  be  depended  upon  on  all  matters  of 
importance. 

"  Dr.  Swan   and   Madame   Johnson  have  superior 


OPPOSITION     LINE.  55 

advantages  over  many  other  clairvoyants.  They  pre- 
pare their  own  medicines ;  they  have  been  very  suc- 
cessful in  the  treatment  of  all  old  chronic  or  acute  dis- 
eases, and  invite  the  attention  of  the  public  to  the 
following,  viz.,  scrofula,  erysipelas,  white  swellings, 
lumbago,  neuralgia,  tic  douloureux,  rheumatism,  can- 
cers, lung  complaints,  bronchial  affections,  dropsy  of 
the  heart  or  blood,  and  female  complaints,  all  of 
which  are  scientifically  treated. 

"  N.  B.  —  To  those  who  wish,  Madame  Johnson 
will  give  the  psychometrical  or  phrenological  delin- 
eations of  character,  without  having  any  letter  from 
the  unknown  party.  All  that  is  necessary  for  her  to 
know  is,  when  the  person  was  last  heard  from.  She 
will  also  give  a  correct  account  of  absent  friends, 
describe  places  and  persons,  —  whether  in  prosperity 
or  adversity,  sickness,  death,  or  health,  —  lawsuits, 
lost  or  stolen  property,  and  all  kinds  of  business  trans- 
actions. 


56  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 


C  H  A  P  T  E  R    V. 

FURTHER  EXPERIMENTS  OF  THE  AUTHOR.  — NO  ELEC- 
TRICAL ACTION  IN  MESMERISM.  —  EVIL  EFFECTS  OF 
SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATIONS.  —  THE  TRANSFIGURA- 
TION. —  AN  ANGEL  APPEARED  TO  JOHN  THE  REVE- 
LATOR. 

While  my  attention  was  directed  to  my  own 
experiments,  it  appeared  evident  that  mesmerism  was 
a  science,  the  agent  of  which  is  electricity.  Having 
tried  various  experiments  to  detect  the  operation  of 
it,  all  with  apparent  success,  I  reflected  that,  if  elec- 
tricity was  drawn  from  a  subject,  that  subject  could 
not  be  mesmerized,  provided  he  had  the  means  of 
keeping  up  the  equilibrium  of  that  fluid  in  his  system ; 
and  if  he  was  immediately  connected  with  the  earth 
by  a  good  conductor,  he  would  have  the  means,  and 
could  not  be  affected  by  the  passes. 

Accordingly,  experiments  were  tried  by  seating  sub- 
jects, holding  one  end  of  a  chain  in  the  hand,  while 
the.  other  was  buried  in  the  moist  earth  ;  when  I  found 
myself  unable  to  produce  the  mesmeric  effect  in  the 
least  degree,  yet  had  no  difficulty  in  putting  the  same 
subjects  into  that  state  in  the  usual  way. 

This  seemed  to  demonstrate  the  position,  that  if 
electricity  was  drawn  from  the  subject,  the  deficiency 
would  be  supplied  from  the  earth ;  and  if  it  was 
imparted  to  him,  it  would  pass  off"  to  the  earth ;  and 
in  either  case,  the  state  of  the  subject  would  remain 
the  same. 

But  as  I  became  acquainted  more  extensively  with 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  57 

the  subject,  and  began  to  witness  the  experiments  of 
others  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  I  soon  learned 
that  there  was  no  electricity  about  it. 

Some  of  my  experiments  were  published  in  a- peri- 
odical called  "  The  Magnet,"  and  soon  repeated  by 
others,  many  of  whom  obtained  the  same  results  — 
some  by  the  same  means,  others  by  a  liiere  effort  of 
the  will.  To  change  the  polarity  of  a  subject,  some 
found  it  unnecessary  to  mesmerize  with  the  arms 
crossed ;  but  simply  will  it  to  be  done,  and  it  vjas 
done.  In  exciting  a  phrenological  organ  to  action,  I 
was  always  careful  to  hit  the  right  one ;  but  there 
were  others,  not  knowing  where  these  organs  were 
located,  who  would  often  mistake  and  excite  one  for 
another.  But  it  was  all  just  as  well.  If  the  operator 
intended  to  excite  combativeness,  but  made  a  mistake 
and  excited  philoprogenitiveness,  it  was  just  as  well ; 
combativeness  was  aroused,  and  neither  he  nor  the 
subject  knew  the  difference. 

And,  finally,  I  perceived  it  made  no  difference  what 
means  were  employed  to  produce  an  effect:  it  was 
only  a  determination  in  the  mind  of  the  operator  to 
produce  it,  and  it  was  done.  Mesmer  sometimes 
magnetized  his  subjects  through  a  door,  he  being  in 
one  room,  and  his  subject  in  another. 

But  when  the  commissioners  came  to  test  the  mag- 
netic influence,  they  placed  the  subject  at  the  door, 
pretending  that  Mesmer  v/as  on  the  other  side,  when, 
in  reality,  he  was  not ;  but  it  made  no  difference ;  the 
subject  was  magnetized  just  the  same  as  though  there 
had  been  a  Mesmer  the  other  side  of  the  door. 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  the  mind  only  is  affected 
primarily,  and  the  body  but  secondarily,  if  at  all. 

There    are    some    cases  where   many  a  long  mile 


58  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

intervenes  between  the  operator  and  his  subject,  and 
yet  the  effect  is  the  same  as  when  the  passes  are  made 
over  the  person. 

It  was  generally  understood,  that,  when  manipula- 
tions were  made,  the  subject  should  also  be  enveloped 
in  the  will  of  the  operator  to  produce  the  effect ;  and 
the  more  frequently  it  is  produced,  the  less  need  there 
is  of  means,  save  the  will  alone.  Another  fact  should 
also  be  noticed.  The  subjects  of  different  operators 
exhibit  different  phenornena,  the  subjects  of  one  being 
different,  in  some  respects,  from  those  of  every  other. 

To  illustrate  this  still  further :  my  own  subjects 
appeared  in  a  profound  sleep,  and  entirely  insensible 
to  every  thing  around  them  ;  yet  most  of  them  in  what 
is  called  the  state  of  transfer. 

Some  operators  are  unable  to  close  an  eye,  or  give 
their  subjects  the  least  appearance  of  sleep,  yet,  in 
other  respects,  produce  the  usual  phenomena.  The 
subjects  of  others  seem  sensible  of  every  thing 
around  them,  conversing  with  one  as  well  as  another 
without  being  put  en.  rapport.  The  clairvoyants  of 
some,  when  they  pretend  to  go  to  a  place  by  riding  in 
a  carriage,  exhibit  such  a  jostling  motion  as  a  carriage 
gives  a  person  actually  riding;  others,  under  the  same 
circumstances,  exhibit  no  motion  at  all. 

The  clairvoyants  of  some,  in  examining  the  sick, 
place  their  hands  on  their  own  persons :  for  instance, 
if  to  examine  the  head  of  a  patient,  lay  their  hand  on 
their  own  heads.  Others  examine  without  moving  a 
hand. 

So  in  spiritual  disclosures.  Some  are  rapping 
mediums,  and  some  are  writing  mediums,  while  others 
are  table-tipping  mediums.  Some  remain  in  the  body, 
and  receive  the  visits  of  departed  spirits ;  others  leave 
the  body,  and  go  to  the  spirit  land. 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  59 

Now,  why  this  difference  ?  Suppose  A  becomes  a 
mesmerizer,  and  gets  up  a  dozen  or  twenty  subjects. 
They  all  exhibit  the  same  phenomena.  Now,  B  comes 
from  a  distance  to  make  him  a  visit.  He  sees  A 
mesmerize  a  few  of  his  subjects,  and  for  the  first  time 
witnesses  the  mysterious  effect.  He  goes  home  and 
becomes  a  mesmerizer  himself;  but  his  subjects  are 
all  just  like  A's. 

Again :  suppose  B  had  fallen  in  where  he  would 
have  witnessed  the  table  tippings ;  he  would  have 
gone  home  and  told  the  wonderful  story,  and  he  and 
his  neighbors  would  have  got  up  an  harmonial  circle, 
and  some  of  them,  the  most  credulous,  would  have 
been  mediums. 

And  now  for  the  cause.  When  I  first  began  to 
hear  about  mesmerism,  and  before  I  ever  saw  any 
thing  of  it,  I  made  up  my  mind  how  a  person  would 
look  and  act  in  that  state ;  and  the  first  one  I  mes- 
merized was  the  first  I  ever  saw  in  that  state,  and 
she  looked  and  acted  just  as  I  expected.  And  had  I 
expected  she  would  set  a  table  to  tipping,  or  have 
written  a  communication  from  the  dead,  or  have 
delivered  an  oral  one,  she  would  have  done  it. 

This  is  generally  the  case  with  others :  before  they 
become  mesmerizers,  they  either  see  something  of  it, 
or  hear  enough  to  enable  them  to  form  an  opinion 
concerning  the  appearance  of  a  person  in  that  state ; 
and  when  they  come  to  practise,  their  subjects  look 
and  act  just  as  they  expected,  or  as  they  have  seen 
others. 

The  cause  of  the  difference,  therefore,  appears  to  be 
this :  all  operators  beforehand  do  not  happen  to  think 
alike  with  regard  to  the  appearance  of  a  mesmerized 
person.     Hence,  results  in  mesmerism,  clairvoyance, 


60  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

spiritual  disclosures,  &c.,  are  such  as  are  anticipated 
by  the  parties  concerned,  and  are  in  harmony  with 
their  theories,  creeds,  or  prepossessed  opinion. 

Those  who  believe  electricity  is  the  agent  employed 
prove  it  by  their  experiments.  Those  who  believe  the 
will  alone  does  the  work  prove  it  by  their  experiments. 
Those  who  believe  in  a  future  state  of  rewards  and 
punishment  prove,  by  their  clairvoyants,  the  existence 
of  heaven  and  hell  in  the  popular  sense  of  these  words  ; 
while  he  who  believes  in  the  universal  salvation  of  all 
men  proves  it  also  by  his  clairvoyants ;  and  at  the 
same  time,  the  infidel,  by  his  clairvoyants,  proves  all 
beyond  the  grave  an  entire  blank,  and  that  there  is 
neither  angels  nor  spirits.  Those  who  believe  the  moon 
is  inhabited  prove  it  in  the  same  way;  and  those, 
also,  who  believe  it  is  not  inhabited. 

Now,  how  much  wiser  is  the  world  on  these  sub- 
jects than  it  was  before  any  of  these  wonderful  dis- 
closures were  made  ?  Wonderful  indeed ;  but  the 
greatest  wonder  is,  why  so  many  are  so  completely 
deceived. 

One  thing  is  certain  :  whether  the  thing  is  a  science 
or  not,  or  whether  any  of  the  phenomena  can  be 
accounted  for  or  not,  to  one  who  takes  a  general 
survey  of  it,  it  is  evident  that  no  reliance  can  be  placed 
on  any  of  its  disclosures.  Yet  there  are  men  among 
us  at  the  present  time,  and  not  a  few  occupying  emi- 
nent positions  in  society,  who  are  trying  to  maintain 
its  claims  to  a  science,  and  thus  giving  an  unholy 
sanction  to  the  practice  of  it.  We  shall  have  occasion 
hereafter  to  give  the  names  of  some  who  ought  to 
blush  to  be  found  in  such  a  position. 

To  these  reflections  we  subjoin  the  following  from 
the  "  Western  Watchman,"  headed  "  Spirit  Rap- 
pers : "  — 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  61 

••^  Keep  away  from  them.  Keep  your  children  away 
from  them.     Do  you  ask  why  ?     Because,  — 

"  1.  They  certainly  do  no  good.  They  teach  nothing 
that  is  worth  knowing,  they  relieve  no  pain,  they 
sanctify  no  heart,  they  save  no  soul.  If  they  rap  on 
t^ables,  they  do  not  supply  them  with  food ;  if  they 
shake  and  lift  them,  they  do  no  servant's,  hire  in 
moving  them  nor  washing  dishes.  A  man  might 
have  forty  thousand  such  spirits  in  his  house,  yet  be 
no  better  off,  either  in  soul,  body,  or  estate. 

"  2.  They  have  done  much  mischief.  Many  have 
become  insane  by  running  after  these  spirit  rappers. 
The  young  have  been  led  to  trifle  with  serious  and 
sacred  things.  The  Bible  has  been  brought  into  con- 
tempt. Some  who  professed  to  be  disciples  of  Christ 
have  avowed  infidel  sentiments  by  the  influence  of 
these  rappings.  Their  tendency  is  to  turn  the  mind 
from  God,  the  concerns  of  the  soul,  and  eternity. 

"  3.  Let  them  alone,  because  it  is  wicked  and  dan- 
gerous to  meddle  with  them.  God  has  forbidden  us  to 
'  seek  unto  familiar  spirits  that  peep  and  mutter,'  or 
to  have  any  thing  to  do  with  witches,  necromancers, 
and  devils.  He  has,  in  all  ages,  allowed  devils  to  do 
some  strange  and  wonderful  things,  to  try  and  prove 
men.  He  has  forewarned  us  of  this.  If  he  has  given 
*  lying  spirits'  leave  to  tempt  this  generation,  will  you 
run  into  the  temptation  ?  No.  Let  all  who  value 
their  own  peace  and  safety  keep  away.  Do  not  invite 
the  devil  to  ruin  you." 

Much  is  said  by  the  advocates  of  mesmerism  con- 
cerning the  fact  that  angels  formerly  visited  men  of 
old,  as  a  proof  that  the  spirits  of  the  dead  now  visit 
the'living.  Bat,  although  men  in  this  life  were  some- 
times called  angels,  there  is  a  higher  order  of  beings 
6 


62  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

above  men  that  are  called  angels.  This  is  evident 
from  the  circumstance  that  Christ  was  made  a  little 
lower  than  the  angels.     (Heb.  xi.  7,  9,  16.) 

That  such  superior  beings  appeared  to  men  of  old 
is  no  proof  of  the  present  pretended  spiritual  disclo- 
sures. First,  because  they  appeared  to  holy  men, 
with,  perhaps,  but  few  exceptions,  as  in  the  case  of 
Balaam.  While  clairvoyants,  mediums,  &c.,  as  a 
general  thing,  make  no  pretension  to  holiness  of  heart, 
but,  according  to  their  general  theory,  it  is  of  little 
consequence:  the  vicious  are  as  sure  to  attain  to  per- 
fect happiness  hereafter  as  the  virtuous,  only  not  in 
quite  so  short  a  time.  Second,  there  is  no  proof  in 
the  Scriptures  that  the  spirits  of  dead  men,  who  ever 
had  an  existence  on  the  earth,  ever  did  appear  to 
living  men  in  the  flesh. 

It  is  generally  believed  that  Moses  appeared  on  the 
mount  of  transfiguration  long  centuries  after  he  was 
dead.  But  the  Scriptures  do  not  so  inform  us.  Christ 
first  admonished  his  disciples  to  beware  of  the  leaven 
(doctrine)' of  the  Pharisees  and  of  the  Sadducees,  and 
then  immediately,  in  refutation  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
Sadducees,  went  on  to  preach  the  astonishing  doctrine 
of  a  resurrection  from  the  dead,  and  finally,  in  demon- 
stration of  it,  he  gave  Peter,  James,  and  John  a  vision 
of  his  coming  "in  the  glory  of  his  Father,"  and  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead. 

Now,  unless  Christ's  second  coming  and  resuiTCc- 
tion  of  the  dead  took  place  then,  Moses  and  Elias,  in 
person  or  spirit,  were  not  there.  But  as  it  was  a 
vision  of  the  future,  it  shows  what  will  be  in  the  future^ 
when  the  vision  shall  be  fulfilled;  when  Moses  and 
Elias,  "  at  the  resurrection,  at  the  last  day,"  will  be  in 
the  kingdom ;  when  Christ  comes  in  the  glory  of  his 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  63 

Father,  to  reward  every  man  as  his  works  shall  be. 
Then  Moses  will  be  rewarded  with  eternal  life,  by  a 
resurrection  which  our  Savior  was  aiming  to  prove, 
in  opposition  to  the  Sadducees.  (See  "  The  Chris- 
tian's Only  Hope,"  by  the  author,  pp.  26-28.) 

Again  :  it  is  said  that  John  saw  and  conversed  with 
the  spirit  of  one  of  the  old  prophets.  Rev.  xxii.  9, 
"  For  I  am  thy  fellow-servant,  and  of  thy  brethren 
the  prophets,  and  of  them  which  keep  the  sayings  of 
this  book :  worship  God." 

The  personage  that  John  attempted  to  worship  is 
not  declared  to  be  one  of  the  prophets,  but  John's /<?/- 
low-servant ;  that  is,  one  that  served  the  sa7ne  God, 
and  one  who  also  was  a  fellow-servant  of  John's 
brethren  the  prophets ;  that  is,  one  that  had  served 
the  prophets,  and  was  then  serving  John,  and  at  the 
same  time  was  serving  God.  Moreover,  in  the  sixth 
verse  he  is  expressly  called  an  a72gel;  also  in  the 
sixteenth  verse.  It  appears  further  that  the  whole 
book  of  Revelation  was  given  to  John  by  an  angel. 
(See  Rev.  i.  1.) 

But  suppose  we  take  the  position  that  the  personage 
John  attempted  to  worship  was  one  of  the  old  proph- 
ets :  it  could  not  have  been  one  of  the  dead  ones, 
because  "  the  dead  know  not  any  thing,  neither  have 
they  any  more  a  reward ;  for  the  memory  of  them  is 
forgotten."  (Ec.  ix.  5.)  The  dead  lose  their  memory ; 
but  the  angel  seen  by  John  remembered  he  had  served 
the  prophets,  or  had  been  one  himself,  therefore  he 
was  one  that  was  not  dead;  and  if  he  luas  one  of  the 
prophets,  he  was  Enoch  or  Elijah. 

Again :  it  is  said  the  spirits  of  the  dead  have  often 
been  seen  by  the  living,  which  is  proof  that  they  do 
return  to  the  earth  occasionally.     But  a  little  attention 


64  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

to  this  subject,  and  a  few  grains  of  common  sense, 
will  convince  the  candid  that  these  appearances  do 
not  so  much  as  prove  the  existence  of  such  spirits.  It 
is  generally  believed  that  death  is  a  separation  of  the 
spirit  from  the  body.  If  so,  the  spirit  of  a  living  per- 
son cannot  be  seen  out  of  the  body.  But  there  are 
innumerable  cases  in  which  the  apparitions  (as  it  is 
called)  of  living  persons  have  been  seen,  which  is 
generally  considered  as  an  omen  of  the  immediate 
death  of  the  persons.    . 

Now,  what  can  the  apparition  of  a  living  person  be  ? 
It  is  not  the  real  person,  neither  is  it  the  real  soul, 
spirit,  or  ghost  of  the  person ;  for  the  person  is  not 
dead ;  the  soul  and  body  have  not  separated. 

Even  if  we  take  for  granted  the  existence  of  the 
disembodied  spirit,  in  such  cases  it  must  be  admitted 
that  the  spirit  is  seen  where  none  is  really  present. 
And  since  it  is  so,  why  may  not  the  spirit  of  the  dead 
be  seen  where  none  is  really  present?  One  would 
not  be  a  greater  phantasm  than  the  other,  and  neither 
would  prove  the  existence  of  the  spirits  of  the  dead  or 
living.  But  this  is  not  all :  such  appearances,  if  they 
prove  any  thing  relating  to  the  spirit,  prove  too  much ; 
for  they  prove  that  inanimate  objects  and  brutes  have 
spirits  as  well  as  men. 

Who  ever  saw  or  heard  of  a  spirit,  apparition,  or 
ghost  of  a  dead  or  living  person  making  its  appear- 
ance entirely  naked  ?  They  always  appear  clothed, 
or  in  a  winding  sheet  or  coffin. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  spirit  of  Captain  Mcintosh, 
which  appeared  in  England  not  long  since,  who  also 
had  died  in  India.  He  appeared  dressed  in  the  full 
uniform  of  an  English  captain,  every  article  on  him  of 
which  must  have  had  a  spirit  as  well  as  himself.     Or, 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  65 

if  the  spirit  of  the  uniform  was  not  present,  then  his 
spirit  (if  he  had  any)  was  not. 

The  spirits,  glwsts,  or  apparitions  of  horses,  dogs, 
and  other  animals  have  all  been  seen  in  a  multitude 
of  cases.  Yet  it  is-  not  pretended  these  things  have 
spirits.  The  most,  therefore,  that  can  be  said  in  such 
cases  is,  that  such  appearances  prove  the  wonderful 
power  of  imagination. 

Let  us  reason  on  this  subject  like  men,  and  we  shall 
see  no  more  proof  of  disclosures  being  made  by  the 
spirits  of  the  dead  than  we  have  of  those  that  seem 
to  be  the  spirits  of  dogs,  horses,  old  clothes,  coffins, 
and  winding  sheets. 
6* 


66  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 


CHAPTER     VI„ 

PHENOMENA  OF  MESMERISM  EXPLAINED  ON  THE  SUP- 
POSITION THAT  ELECTRICITY  IS  THE  AGENT  CALLED 
INTO  ACTION.  — THE  REV.  J.  BOVEE  DODS'S  THEORY. 

We  should  say  but  little  on  this  subject,  were  it 
not  that,  of  late,  a  fresh  and  vigorous  attempt  is 
making  to  account  for  table  tipping,  furniture  moving, 
and  spiritual  rapping,  by  referring  them  to  electrical 
phenomena.  In  the  abstractedly  moral  sense  of  the 
thing,  it  matters  not  by  what  means  the  thing  is 
broLia:ht  about.  All  a  moralist  needs  to  know  about  it 
is,  that  it  is  a  great  evil.  We  have  described  the  usual 
phenomena  of  mesmerism  in  its  various  states,  pro- 
gressively rising  one  above  another,  until  it  reaches 
the  climacteric  state  of  spontaneous  extasis  or  trance, 
through  which,  it  is  said,  the  purest  disclosures  are 
made  by  the  spirits  of  the  departed  dead.  These 
disclosures  are  more  or  less  repugnant  to  the  gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ.  This  we  shall  endeavor  to  show  in 
another  chapter. 

Now,  it  is  certainly  wrong  to  practise  any  thing  that 
in  the  end  has  an  evil  tendency.  Suppose,  therefore, 
electricity  is  the  agent  employed  in  the  mystery;  it 
no  more  justifies  the  practice  of  mesmerism  than 
drunkenness  is  justified  by  our  knowledge  of  the 
agent  employed  in  producing  it.  But,  as  yet,  it  must 
be  allowed  that  it  is  an  unsettled  question  whether 
electricity  is  the  agent  or  not.  K  it  is  not,  it  may  be 
something  more  unhallowed,  unholy,  and  unclean. 
Before  we  call  it  electricity,  we  should  have  the  most 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  67 

positive  demonstration  of  the  fact,  otherwise  we  may 
be  doing  a  great  injury  to  mankind ;  for  it*  will  be 
diiEcult,  at  the  present  day,  to  persuade  people  there 
is  any  harm  in  investigating  the  operations  of  a  nat- 
ural agent.  We  shall,  therefore,  endeavor  to  give  the 
sum  of  evidence  and  argument  in  favor  of  the  elec- 
trical agency  of  the  mystery,  that  the  reader  may  the 
better  judge  of  the  matter. 

That  electricity  is  drawn /rom,  or  communicated  to, 
a  subject,  I  know  of  no  more  plausible  evidence  than 
that  which  appears  from  my  own  experiments.  We 
will  admit  it,  and  see  to  what  extent  we  can  explain 
the  different  phenomena  on  that  admission.  But  we 
can  scarcely  proceed  another  step  without  assuming 
another  improved  principle  or  position.  We  will 
therefore  suppose  that  sensation,  in  the  normal  state, 
is  produced  by  the  vibrations  of  electricity,  forced 
into  action  by  the  energy  of  the  will  acting  on,  and 
similarly  vibrating,  the  nervous  system.  So,  to  smell, 
the  effluvia  entering  the  nose  comes  in  contact  with, 
and  vibrates  certain  nerves  which  communicate  with, 
the  brain,  the  storehouse  of  sensation.  And,  to  hear, 
the  sonorous  body  first  gives  vibrations  to  the  atmos- 
phere through  which  they  are  conveyed  to  the  audi- 
tory nerve,  w^hich  further  conveys  them  to  the  brain. 
Yet  in  neither  case  is  the  effluvia  or  atmospheric 
vibrations  conveyed  to  the  brain,  but  the  electrical 
vibrations  produced  by  them.  So,  in  every  sensation, 
a  vibratory  current  of  electricity  is  sent  through  the 
nervous  system,  and  thence  escapes  into  the  circum- 
ambient air,  or  other  medium. 

Now,  when  an  operator  has  mesmerized  his  sub- 
ject, they  hold  the  same  relation  to  each  other  that 
the  two  coatings  of  a  Leyden  jar  do  when  charged; 


68  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

and  every  sensation  of  the  operator  is  a  partial  dis- 
charge, as  it  were,  of  the  jar  :  the  flnid  escaping  from 
him  is  received  by  the  subject,  with  its  accompanying 
vibrations,  which  are  the  sensations  of  the  operator. 
To  illustrate  this  still  further :  suppose  A  mesmerizes 
B.  A  draws  a  fluid  from  him,  say  the  positive.  A 
becomes  positive,  and  B  negative  by  induction,  or 
minus  his  positive  fluid,  which  is  now  in  the  person 
of  A.  A  now  feels  the  scratch  of  a  pin  on  his  right 
hand.  This  vibrates,  and  sets  at  liberty  a  portion  of 
his  positive  fluid  which  he  took  from  B.  The  escape 
of  this  fluid  is  the  sensation  of  pain  to  A,  in  the  same 
manner  that  the  escape  of  caloric  from  the  hand  is 
the  sensation  of  cold.  This  fluid,  so  escaping  from 
A's  ri^ht  hand,  is  received  in  B's  left.  And  why  in 
his  left  ?  Because,  when  A  mesmerized  him,  his 
right  hand  came  in  contact  with  B's  left  side,  and 
took  the  positive  fluid  from  it;  and  it  has  now  gone 
back  where  it  came  from,  and  carried  A's  pain  along 
with  it.  But  when  I  mesmerized  a  subject  with  my 
arms  crossed,  so  as  not  to  change  the  polarity,  a  pain 
in  my  right  hand  went  into  the  right  hand  of  the 
subject.  So  far,  the  electro  theory  seems  to  be  de- 
monstrated. But  we  have  shown  that  the  mere  effort 
of  the  will  of  the  operator  has  been  known  to  pro- 
duce the  whole  effect ;  indeed,  it  remains  to  be  proved 
whether  any  of  the  various  modes  of  operation,  or 
any  of  the  means  used,  have  any  effect  further  than 
to  establish  the  faith  of  the  parties,  and  give  a  greater 
determination  to  the  will  of  the  operator. 

It  is  a  fact  that,  in  my  own  experiments,  (with  few 
exceptions,)  I  anticipated  their  results.  And  since 
they  resulted  as  I  expected,  it  follows  that  I  willed 
my  subjects,  and  the  effect  of  the  will  alone  produced 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  G9 

the  result,  and  the  means  made  use  of  served  only  to 
lead  to  such  conclusions.  It  follows,  therefore,  if  the 
agent  in  the  affair  is  electricity,  the  effort  of  the  will 
is  an  evolution  of  it  in  the  system.  This  is  the  posi- 
tion I  took  and  endeavored  to  maintain  in  my  pub- 
lic lectures,  and  is  the  position  some  are  taking  at 
present. 

The  Rev.  John  Bovee  Dods,  in  his  public  lectures 
delivered  in  Boston,  says,  in  his  first,  "  Before  I  pro- 
ceed any  further,  I  would  remark,  that  I  consider 
'  ANIMAL.  MAGNETISM '  a  vcry  inappropriate  name. 
It  should  be  called  spiritualism,  or  mental  elec- 
TPticiTY,  because  it  is  the  direct  impulse  of  the  mind 
upon  the  mind  and  bodies  of  others.  As  it  is  the 
science  of  mind  and  its  powers,  so  it  is  the  highest 
and  most  sublime  science  in  the  whole  realm  of 
nature,  and  as  far  transcends  all  others  as  godlike 
mind  transcends  matter.  .  .  .  (Note  1.)  Once 
more :  there  is,  in  the  nervous  system,  no  blood. 
By  the  nervous  system,  I  mean  the  brain  and  all  its 
ramifications.  The  blood  belongs  exclusively  to  the 
circulating  system,  which  embraces  the  veins  and 
arteries.  I  grant  that  the  blood  vessels  pass  round 
the  convolutions  of  the  brain  ;  but  in  the  nerve  itself 
there  is  no  blood,  and  the  whole  mass  of  the  brain  is 
but  a  congeries  of  nerves.  These  are  charged  with  a 
nervo-vital  fluid,  which  is  manufactured  from  elec- 
tricity. Hence  the  circulating  system  containing  the 
blood,  and  the  nervous  system  containing  the  mag- 
netic fluid,  are  not  to  be  blended,  but  distinctly  con- 
sidered. Now,  as  a  human  being  may  lack  the 
proper  quantity  of  blood  in  his  circulating  system,  so 
he  may  lack  the  proper  quantum  of  the  nervo-vital 
fluid  in  his  nervous  system.    Now,  let  a  person  whose 


70  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

brain  is  fully  charged  come  in  contact  with  one  whose 
brain  is  greatly  wanting  in  its  due  measure  of  this 
fluid,  and  let  the  person  possessing  the  full  brain 
gently  and  unchangeably  hold  his  mind  upon  the 
other,  and  by  the  action  of  his  will  the  fluid  w41l 
pass  from  the  full  brain  to  the  other,  until  the  equi- 
librium between  the  fluids  in  the  two  brains  is  at- 
tained. The  sudden  change  in  the  receiving  brain 
produces  a  coolness  and  a  singular  state  of  insen- 
.sibility.     (Note  2.) 

"  This  is  MAGNETISM  ;  and  it  is  in  perfect  accordance 
with  all  the  principles  of  philosophy  in  the  known 
realms  of  nature.  If  any  one  denies  the  operation 
of  the  law  of  equilibrium  in  this  case,  then  he  here 
makes  a  charm  amidst  the  immensity  of  God's  works, 
which  he  can  nowhere  else  discover."     (Note  3.) 

After  the  introduction  of  his  second  lecture,  he 
says,  — 

"  Having  made  these  remarks,  which  the  occasion 
seems  to  demand,  I  will  now  proceed  to  a  direct  consid- 
eration of  tne  nervo-vital  fluid  in  the  human  brain. 
It  is  admitted,  the  air  we  breathe  is  composed  of  two 
substances  —  namely,  oxygen  and  nitrogen.  Their 
relative  qualities  are  about  one  fifth  oxygen  and  four 
fifths  nitrogen.  But  these  are  not  all.  It  is  evident 
that  hydrogen  and  electricity  are  also  component 
parts  of  air.  Oxygen  and  electricity  are  the  prin- 
ciples of  flame  and  of  animal  life,  while  nitrogen 
extinguishes  both.  The  air  in  its  compound  state  is 
drawn  into  the  lungs.  The  oxygen  and  electricity 
are  communicated  to  the  blood,  which  is  charged 
with  iron,  while  the  nitrogen  is  disengaged  and  ex 
pired.  This  iron,  which  gives  color  to  the  blood,  i^ 
instantly    rendered    magnetic    under    the    influence 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  71 

of  electricity,  analogous  to  the  needles  in  the  gal- 
vanic battery,  which  becon:ie  magnets  by  induction. 
(Note  4.)  The  blood  is  at  the  same  time  oxydized 
by  the  oxygen  of  the  air,  and  instantly  becomes 
cherry  red.  Thus  oxygen  generates  an  acidity  in  the 
blood,  in  some  degree  answering  to  the  solution  of 
the  sulphate  of  copper  in  the  galvanic  battery.  The 
blood  thus  magnetically  prepared  at  the  lungs  is 
thrown  upon  the  heart,  and  forced  into  the  arteries. 
Hence  arterial  blood  is  red.  It  is  propelled  to  the 
extremities,  driven  into  every  possible  ramification, 
and  is  collected  and  carried  back  in  the  veins,  through 
the  other  ventricle  of  the  heart  to  the  lungs,  for  a 
fresh  supply  of  the  electro-magnetic  power.  Hence 
venous  blood  is  dark,  and  is  unfit  to  be  thrown  into 
the  arterial  system  a  second  time  till  it  has  again 
come  in  contact  with  the  oxygen  and  electricity  of 
the  air.  The  blood  thus  discharged  is-  propelled 
through  its  living  channels,  and  this  friction  causes 
the  electro-magnetic  power  to  escape  from  the  circu- 
lating system  into  the  nervous  system,  for  which  it 
has  a  strong  affinity,  and,  being  secreted  by  the  brain, 
it  becomes  the  nervo-vital  fluid,  or  animal  galvanism. 
It  is  important  here  to  remark  that  the  blood,  in  its 
friction  through  the  arteries,  has  given  off  its  electro- 
magnetic power  into  the  nervous  system.  The  blood 
thus  freed  assumes  a  dark  appearance  in  the  veins, 
and  becomes  entirely  negative.  The  lungs  being 
charged  with  a  fresh  supply  of  electricity,  become 
POSITIVE.  Hence  the  blood  is  drawn  from  the  veins 
to  the  lungs,  on  the  same  principle  that  the  negative 
and  the  positive,  in  electricity,  rush  together.  (Note  5.) 
"  From  the  above  observations,  it  will  be  perceived 
that  every  muscle  of  the  human  body,  every  organ 


72 


THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 


and  gland,  is  polar,  and  by  the  negative  and  positive 
principles,  as  above  noticed,  animal  life  is  sustained 
and  perpetuated  through  the  action  of  the  lungs  and 
blood.     (Note  6.) 

"  We  thus  perceive  that  the  nervo-vital  fluid  is 
manufactured  out  of  electricity,  taken  into  the  lungs 
at  every  inspiration.  It  completely  charges  the  whole 
brain  when  that  organ  is  in  a  healthy  state.  The 
nerves  composing  the  brain  are  of  three  kinds,  namely, 
the  nerves  of  sensation,  the  nerves  of  voluntary 
motion,  and  the  nerves  of  involuntary  motion.  I 
make  these  three  divisions,  so  that  I  may  be  the  more 
readily  understood  when  speaking  of  nervous  action. 
I  desire  you  to  bear  in  mind  that  these  three  classes 
of  nerves  are  all  charged  with  the  nervo-vital  fluid, 
which  is  exactly  prepared  to  come  in  contact  with 
mind. 

"  W^put  forth  a  will.  That  will  stirs  the  nervo- 
vital  fluid  in  thq  voluntary  nerves.  This  fluid  causes 
the  voluntary  nerves  to  vibrate.  The  galvanic  vibra- 
tion of  these  nerves  contracts  the  muscles.  The 
muscles  contracting,  raises  the  arm,  and  that  arm 
raises  foreign  matter.  So,  we  see,  it  is  through  this 
concatenation  or  chain  that  the  mind  comes  in 
contact  with  the  grossest  matter  in  the  universe. 
(Note  7.) 

"  It  is  evident  that  there  is  no  direct  contact  between  i 
mind  and  gross  matter.     There  is  no  direct  contact 
between  the  length  of  a  thought  and  the  breadth  of 
that   door.     Nor    is    there    anv   more    direct   contact  I 
between  my  mind  and  hand  than   there  is  between 
my  mind  and  the  stage  on  which  I  stand.     Thoughti 
cannot  touch  my  hand;  yet  it  must  be  true  that  mind 
can  come  in  contact  with  matter,  otherwise  I  could 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  73 

not  raise  my  hand  at  all  by  the  energies  of  my  will. 
Hence  it  must  be  true  that  the  highest  and  most  sub- 
tile of  inert  matter  in  the  universe,  being  the  next  step 
to  spirit,  can  come  in  contact  with  the  mind.  And 
electricity,  changed  into  nervo-vital  fluid,  (which  is 
living  galvanism,)  is  certainly  the  highest  and  most 
ethereal  inert  substance  of  which  we  can  form  any 
conception.  Hence,  as  before  remarked,  it  must  be 
true  that  we  put  forth  a  will.  By  the  energies  of  that 
will  this  galvanic  substance,  or  nervous  fluid,  is  proudly 
stirred ;  that  stirring  vibrates  the  nerves ;  this  vibrates 
and  contracts  the  muscles  ;  the  muscles  raise  the  arm  ; 
and  the  arm  moves  dead  matter. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  plausibility  of  this  argument, 
it  will  yet  be  said  that,  as  physiologists  contend  that 
no  one  can  explain  through  what  medium  the  mind 
comes  in  contact  w^ith  matter,  or  even  how  a  muscle 
is  made  to  contract  and  raise  the  arm,  and  as  the 
lecturer  has  undertaken  to  explain  it,  we  have  a  right 
to  demand  positive  proof.  This  demand  being 
rational,  I  will  endeavor  to  meet  it.  I  am,  then,  to 
prove  that  the  nervo-vital  fluid  (which  is  perfect  gal- 
vanism) is  indeed  the  agent  by  which  we  contract 
the  muscles  and  raise  the  arm.  This  being  done,  my 
point  is  gained,  and  the  medium  through  which  mind 
comes  in  contact  with  matter  is  established. 

"  I  would  first  remark,  that  it  is  common  when 
criminals  are  executed  that  their  bodies  are  delivered 
over  to  medical  men  for  dissection.  Now,  take  a 
human  body,  and  let  it  be  conveyed  from  the  gallows 
to  the  charnel  house,  and  laid  upon  the  dissecting 
table.  Let  a  continuous  shock  from  a  strong  galvanic 
battery  be  given,  and  the  muscles  of  the  dead  man 
will  contract,  and  exhibit  many  frightful  contortions. 
7 


74  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

Many  interesting  experiments  of  this  character  have 
been  published.  The  dead  man  has  been  known  to 
spring  upon  his  knees,  jolt  them  upon  the  floor,  make 
violent  gesticulations  with  his  hands,  move  his  head, 
roll  his  eyes,  and  chatter  his  teeth.  The  student, 
unused  to  such  ghastly  exhibitions,  has  left  the  room, 
or  fainted  away ;  and  even  the  experienced  physician 
has  started  back  with  horror  at  the  frightful  contor- 
tions which  he  himself  had  made.  Now,  what  was  it 
that  contracted  the  muscles  of  this  dead  man  ?  There 
is  but  one  answer  to  the  question.  It  was  galvanism. 
And  what  is  galvanism  but  electricity  in  a  changed 
form?  so  that,  instead  of  giving  the  system  a  sudden 
shock  like  electricity,  it  merely  produces  a  singular 
vibrating  sensation  upon  the  nerves,  which  causes  the 
muscles  to  contract.  It  is  nothing  else.  Electricity, 
galvanism,  magnetism,  or  attraction  and  repulsion  are 
but  different  positions  of  the  same  common  fluid. 
Now,  as  galvanism  contracts  the  muscles  of  a  dead 
man,  and  is  the  only  power  known  that,  when  arti- 
ficially applied,  can  contract  the  muscles  of  the  living, 
so  it  must  be  the  agent  employed  by  the  will  to  con- 
tract the  muscles,  and  enable  us  to  perform  all  the 
voluntary  motions  of  life.  Whatever  may  be  the 
opinions  of  others,  I  consider  this  argument  irresistible, 
and  shall  hold  it  as  such  until  it  is  fairly  refuted." 
(Note  8.) 

Again  :  in  his  third  lecture,  he  says,  — 
"  The  question  now  comes  up  in  proper  order  before 
us :  Is  there  any  power  in  mind  to  produce  a  result  by 
simply  WILLING  it?  I  contend  that  there  is,  while  the 
opposers  of  mesmerism  contend  that  there  is  not. 
Mesmerism,  then,  must  stand  or  fall  on  the  existence 
or  non-existence  of  such  a  power. 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  75 

"  And,  first,  let  me  appeal  to  you  as  Christians.  If 
you  deny  that  mind  or  spirit  has  any  power  to  produce 
a  physicial  result,  then  how  does  the  Creator  govern 
the  universe?  How  can  his  Spirit  come  in  contact 
with  matter  so  as  to  produce  any  physicial  results? 
The  creation  and  government  of  the  world  are  repre- 
sented in  Scripture  as  the  result  of  the  divine  will. 
'  He  doeth  according  to  his  will  in  the  army  of  heaven, 
and  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth.'  The  creation 
of  the  world  and  all  its  appendages  is  represented  as 
the  effect  of  his  will.  '  He  said,  Let  there  be  light,  and 
there  was  light.'  'He  spake,  and  it  was  done;  he 
commanded,  and  it  stood  fast.**  If,  then,  the  Infinite 
Spirit,  by  holding  his  will  unchangeably  upon  all  the 
multifarious  objects  of  creation,  moves  unnumbered 
worlds,  and  governs  the  universe,  then  there  is  also  an 
energy  and  power  in  the  human  spirit  proportionate 
to  its  greatness.  If  you  grant  that  the  Infinite  Spirit, 
by  putting  forth  an  infinite  will,  can  produce  infinite 
results,  then  surely  a  feeble,  finite  spirit,  by  putting 
forth  a  feeble,  finite  will,  can  produce  a  feeble,  finite 
result.  I  only  ask  you,  as  Christian  philosophers,  the 
admission  that  the  same  cause  shall  produce  the  same 
EFFECT.  (Note  9.)  If,  however,  you  deny  the  cor- 
rectness of  this  conclusion,  then  I  have  only  to  say, 
that  you  furnish  the  atheist  with  a  weapon  by  which 
he  is  sure  to  defeat  you.  Argue  as  long  as  you  please, 
and  even  drive  the  honest  atheist  from  any  other 
ground,  and  he  will  at  last  say,  '  Well,  admit  there  is 
a  God ;  yet  he  can  do  nothing.' 

"  Your  Bible  says, '  God  is  a  spirit.'  Hence  he  has 
no  hands,  feet,  nor  physical  body  as  we  have.  He 
may,  therefore,  will  and  will  to  all  eternity;  yet  he 
can   do  nothing,  because   spirit,  by  its   mere   mental 


76  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

action,  cannot  come  in  contact  with,  nor  in  the  least 
affect,  matter.  (Note  10.)  '  We  know  this,'  says  the 
atheist, '  from  observation  and  experience.  And  what 
can  we  reason  but  from  what  we  know  ? '  A  human 
being,  for  instance,  may  sit  down  and  exercise  all  his 
mental  energies.  He  may  will  and  will  to  endless 
ages ;  yet  he  can  do  nothing,  cannot  produce  the 
least  physical  result,  unless  he  uses  his  hands  or  comes 
in  bodily  contact.  I  now  ask  those  Christians  who 
deny  that  the  mind  has  such  power  as  we  are  con- 
tending for,  How  can  they  answer  this  argument  of  the 
atheist  ?  I  contend  that  they  are  not  able  to  meet  it. 
There  is  no  human  ingenuity  beneath  these  heavens 
that  the  Christian  opposers  of  the  mesmeric  power  can 
summon  to  their  aid  adequate  to  the  task.  Indeed,  it 
implies  a  contradiction  in  terms,  and  involves  them  in 
the  following  compound  dilemma :  If  the  Infinite 
Spirit,  by  the  energies  of  his  will,  can  produce  infinite 
results,  then  a  finite  spirit,  by  its  will,  can  produce  a 
finite  result.  But  a  finite  spirit,  by  its  will,  cannot 
produce  any  result ;  so  an  infinite  spirit,  by  its  will, 
cannot  produce  any  result.  Of  this  dilemma  they 
may  take  either  horn.  I  arti  willing  to  meet  any 
intelligent  clergyman  in  controversy  who  denies  the 
truth  of  mesmerism ;  and  before  this  enlightened  con- 
gregation, who  shall  be  our  jurors,  I  will  either  make 
bim  acknowledge  the  mesmeric  power,  or  drive  him 
to  atheism.  I  will  leave  him  no  other  alternative. 
(Note  11.) 

"  As  the  subject  of  mesmerism  is  directly  connected 
with  the  powers  of  the  mind,  and  as  this  is  the  pivot 
on  which  the  question  between  its  advocates  and 
opposers  must  eventually  turn,  you  will  permit  me  to 
take  a  wider  range  in  this  extensive  field. 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  77 

"  There  must  be  some  medium  through  which  the 
eternal  Mind  comes  in  contact  with  gross  matter, 
moves  unnumbered  worlds  according  to  nature's  law, 
and  sustains  and  governs  the  unbounded  universe. 
That  medium  mu"st  be  the  finest,  the  most  rarefied, 
and  subtile  of  inert  matter  in  being.  It  must  be  the 
last  link  in  the  material  chain  of  inert  substances  that 
fastens  on  the  mind.  This  is  electricity.  Hence  it 
is  through  electricity  that  the  Great  Spirit  comes  in 
contact  with  his  universe.  This  is  evident,  because  it 
is  electricity  as  it  exists  in  the  human  system,  through 
which  our  spirits  come  in  contact  with  matter.  We 
are  but  an  epitome  of  God's  universe,  and  in  us  is 
contained  every  variety  of  matter  and  substance  in 
being.     (Note  12.) 

"  It  may  now  be  asked,  if  electricity  is  the  substance 
through  which  the  Creator  comes  in  contact  with 
matter,  how,  then,  could  he  act  when  that  splendid 
substance  had  no  existence?  or,  in  other  words,  how 
could  he  create  'all  things  out  of  nothing'  ?  I  deny 
the  assertion  that  God  created  all  things  out  of 
nothing,  and  challenge  the  proof.  Space  and  du- 
ration exist  of  necessity,  and  that  space  was  filled 
with  primal  matter,  which  I  contend  was  electricity. 
(Note  13.) 

"  Though  it  is  the  commonly  received  opinion  that 
ail  things  were  created  out  of  nothing,  yet  in  all  ages 
of  the  Christian  church  there  have  been  some  eminent 
men  of  all  denominations  who  have  rejected  this  idea, 
and  contended  that  all  things  were  created  out  of 
some  substance.  A  more  orthodox  man  than  John 
Milton  never  lived,  as  all  know  who  have  ever  read 
that  astonishing  production  of  human  intellect,  his 
'  Paradise  Lost.' "  Here  follows  an  extract  from  Milton, 


78  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

proving  the  eternity  of  matter.  (Note  14.)  The  lec- 
turer then  proceeds :  "  If  something  were  created 
out  of  NOTHING,  it  could  Hot,  ill  the  nature  of  things, 
have  been  done  progressively  or  gradually,  because 
the  instant  it  became  the  least  possible  remove  from 
nothing,  it  would  be  something.  It  must,  in  the  very 
nature  of  things,  remain  nothing  till  it  becomes  some- 
thing, because  there  is  no  possible  process  by  which 
it  can  be  gradually  brought  forward  into  something, 
for  there  is  no  existing  medium  between  something 
and  nothing.  Now,  if  nothing  were  created  into 
something,  it  must  have  been  done  instantly  ;  and  if 
instantly,  then  it  must  have  been  something  and 
nothing  at  the  same  instant,  which  is  the  climax  of 
absurdity.  It  is  just  as  absurd  as  to  contend  that  the 
piece  of  wood  before  mentioned  was  severed  at  the 
bottom  at  the  same  time  that  it  was  at  the  top,  or 
that  a  ray  of  light  could  be  seen  at  the  sun  and  the 
earth  at  the  same  instant.  I  shall  hold  this  argument 
sound  until  some  one  is  able  to  refute  it.  Hence  I 
contend  for  the  eternal  existence  of  primal  matter, 
which  is  electricity.  But  even  this  primal  matter 
does  not  exist  independent  of  Deity.     (Note  15.) 

"  It  will  now  be  said  that,  on  this  principle  of  rea- 
soning, the  speaker  will  make  it  out  that  spirit  itself 
is  matter.  If  by  spirit  you  mean  that  which  has 
neither  length,  breadth,  or  thickness,  nor  occupies  any 
space,  then  I  have  only  to  say  that  it  is  a  mere 
chimera  of  the  human  brain,  a  nonentity,  a  nothing. 
Does  Deity  fill  all  space  ?  Then  he  is  of  course  a 
substance  ;  a  real,  living,  acting,  and  thinking  Being ; 
otherwise,  as  Christians,  we  use  words  without  knowl- 
edge, when  we  say  that  he  fills  immensity  with  his 
presence.     But  it  may  be  said  that  mind  is  thought, 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  79 

REASON,  and  understanding,  and  then  be  asked 
whether  thought,  reason,  understanding,  &e.,  occupy 
any  space. 

"  But  I  deny  that  these  are  mind.  Thought,  reason, 
and  understanding  are  not  mind,  but  the  effects  of 
mind.  Mind  is  something  supremely  higher  than  all 
these.  I  yet  ask.  What  is  that  which  thinks,  reasons, 
and  understands  ?  It  is  the  mind.  Then  mind  is 
something  distinct  from  those  effects  by  which  it  is 
made  manifest.  What,  then,  it  may  be  asked,  is 
mind  ?  I  answer,  It  is  that  substance  which  has 
innate  or  living  motion  ;  and  the  result  of  that  mo- 
tion is  thought,  reason,  understanding,  and,  therefore, 
power.  As  electricity  is  the  highest  and  most  subtile 
of  inert  substances,  as  it  fastens  on  mind,  and  is, 
therefore,  more  easily  moved  than  any  other  inert 
substance  in  being,  so  mind  is  the  next  step  above 
electricity,  is  the  crowning  perfection  of  all  other  sub- 
stances in  immensity  —  is  living  motion ;  and  the 
result  of  that  motion  is  thought  and  power.  It  is 
the  living  Spirit  from  whom  emanates  electricity,  and 
who,  out  of  that  electricity,  has  created  all  worlds. 
Hence  the  Creator  is  a  real  substance  or  being,  pos- 
sessing personal  identity,  and  is  infinite  in  every  per- 
fection of  his  adorable  character.     (Note  16.) 

"  Electricity,  which  is  an  atmospheric  emanation 
from  God,  and  which  is  moved  by  his  will,  is  that 
substance  out  of  which  all  worlds  and  their  splendid 
appendages  were  made.  Hence  it  will  be  perceived 
that  electricity  contains  all  the  original  properties  of 
all  the  various  substances  in  being.  All  the  varieties 
of  the  universe  around  us  —  all  the  beauties  and 
glories  of  creation  upon  which  we  look  with  so  many 
thrilling  emotions  of    delight  —  were   produced  from 


80  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

electricity,  which  is  the  inexhaustible  fountain  of 
primal  matter.  By  the  living  energies  of  the  divine 
mind,  electricity  was  condensed  into  globes  —  not 
instantly,  but  gradually.  The  heaviest  particles  took 
the  lowest  point,  or  common  centre,  of  our  globe,  and 
so  on,  step  by  step,  lighter  and  lighter,  till  we  reach 
the  surface,  which  is  a  vegetable  mould.  On  this  we 
find  water,  a  substance  still  lighter  than  earth  ;  next 
air,  which  is  lighter  than  matter ;  and  so  on  till  we 
reach  the  sun,  which  is  the  highest  point  in  relation 
to  our  system,  because  it  is  the  common  centre.  The 
sun  is  therefore  pure  electricity ;  hence  the  twenty- 
nine  globes  belonging  to  our  system  are  electrically, 
geologically,  and  magnetically  made.  They  are  but 
twenty-nine  magnets  revolving  around  our  sun  as  a 
common  centre.  (Note  17.)  The  sun,  being  pure 
electricity  or  primal  matter,  is  but  an  emanation  from 
the  Deity.  It  is  consequently  in  a  positive  state. 
It  is  impossible  that  there  can  be  any  inherent  attrac- 
tion and  repulsion  in  matter.  Attraction  and  repul- 
sion are  but  different  dispositions  of  electricity.  God 
is,  therefore,  connected  with  his  universe,  and  super- 
intends all  its  multifarious  operations.  Though  he  is 
intimately  united  to  inert  matter,  yet  he  is  distinct 
from  the  whole."     (Note  18.) 

From  the  fourth  lecture  I  shall  make  but  a  single 
extract :  — 

"  On  this  principle,  if  the  subject  be  charged  too 
much  or  too  little,  he  cannot  see  clearly.  Or  if  the 
night  be  rainy,  or  even  damp  and  unfavorable  to 
electricity,  then  experiments  in  clairvoyance  must  fail, 
or  be  very  imperfect."     (Note  19.) 

The  fifth  lecture  is  introduced  as  follows  :  "  We 
are  again  assembled  to  take  into  consideration  the 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  81 

subject  of  mesmerism.  Its  growing  interest  in  the 
public  mind  is  manifest  by  the  increasing  throngs 
that  assemble  in  this  chapel  to  investigate  its  claims 
to  truth  and  science,  and  the  multitudes  that  are 
obliged  to  retire,  unable  to  gain  admittance."  (Note 
20.) 


82  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 


4r  ,,. 

CHAPTER    VII. 

REVIEW  OF  THE  SUBJECT  CONTAINED  IN  THE  PRE- 
CEDING  CHAPTER.— THE  REY.  BOVEE  DODS'S  THE- 
ORY REPUTED. 

"  Beware  lest  any  man  spoil  you  through,  philosophy  and  vain 
deceit,  after  the  tradition  of  men,  after  the  rudiments  of  the  world, 
and  not  after  Christ."  —  Col.  ii.  8. 

"  O  Timothy,  keep  that  which  is  committed  to  thy  trust,  avoiding 
profane  and  vain  babblings,  and  oppositions  of  science  falsely  so 
called,  which  some  professing,  have  erred  concerning  the  faith.  Grace 
be  with  thee.     Amen."  —  1  Tim.  vi.  20,  21. 

Admitting  electricity  to  be  the  agent  employed  in 
mesmerism,  we  have  shown  in  what  manner  the  sub- 
ject receives  the  sensations  of  his  operator,  and  how 
the  will  of  the  latter  becomes  the  will  of  the  former. 
This  accounts  for  most  of  the  phenomena  up  to  and 
including  dependent  clairvoyance.  But  in  mdepend- 
ent  clairvoyance  the  subject  sees,  hears,  and  knows 
things  which  are  not  seen,  heard,  or  known  by  the 
operator.  The  best  reason  I  have  ever  known  to  be 
offered  for  this  is,  it  is  through  currents  of  electricity 
emanating  from  the  things  seen  and  described  by  the 
subject,  independent  of  the  will  of  the  operator. 
For  instance :  if  a  clairvoyant  should  be  sent  to 
a  distant  city,  and  should  there  describe  a  fire  in 
a  certain  street,  the  emanation  of  electricity  from 
that  scene  is  the  medium  through  which  he  obtained 
a  knowledge  of  the  fact.  But  we  know  that  clairvoy- 
ants describe  scenes  long  after  they  are  acted ;  and 
in  some  cases  they  have  been  known  to  describe  them 
long  before  they  are  acted.     The  latter  case,  especially, 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  83 

no  electrical  theory  can  account  for.  It  is,  therefore, 
evident  that  it  is  through  some  other  agent  that  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  past  and  future  is  obtained  by  the  subject. 

Now,  it  is  not  pretended  that  there  is  more  than 
one  agent  in  the  whole  affair.  But  if  there  is  not,  it 
cannot  be  electricity.  The  ingenuity  of  the  advocates 
of  the  electrical  theory  has  been  severely  taxed  in 
making  electricity  the  sole  agent.  To  account  for 
clairvoyants  seeing  things  past,  it  has  been  supposed 
that  a  passing  event  stirs  a  current  or  vibration  of 
electricity  which  never  ceases.  These  are  made  per- 
ceptible to  the  clairvoyant,  and  give  a  sensation  of 
objects  and  events  in  the  same  manner  that  rays  of 
light,  emanating  from  a  luminous  body,  and  entering 
the  eye,  give  us  an  idea  of  that  body. 

But  this  would  fill  all  space  so  full  of  such  an 
infinity  of  currents  or  vibrations  as  to  surpass  the 
power  of  the  human  faculty  to  distinguish.  Upon 
this  principle  the  currents  of  electricity  stirred  by  our 
first  parents  in  Eden  are  still  going  the  rounds,  mingled 
with  the  millions  of  millions  which  have  since  joined 
them  down  to  our  time. 

But  suppose  this  is  the  case,  still  it  does  not  account 
for  the  fact  that  clairvoyants  see  and  describe  scenes 
which  are  future. 

We  now  proceed  to  examine  the  "  Philosophy  of 
Mesmerism,"  as  given  by  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Dods,  and 
quoted  in  the  last  chapter.  To  avoid  a  recapitulation, 
the  reader  will  have  the  goodness  to  observe  the 
language  used  above  the  notes  in  parenthesis  in  the 
preceding  chapter,  and  turn  to  the  corresponding  notes 
in  this. 

(Note  1.)     Spiritualism  has  long  since  been  both 


84  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

the  lever  and  the  prop  to  raise  and  support  every  false 
theory  or  dogma  w^hich  theorizing  mortals  can  invent. 
"Who  can  name  a  false  doctrine  of  religion  that  is  not 
sustained  by  spiritualism  ?  It  is  made  a  subterfuge  to 
hide  any  thing  preposterous  and  absurd.  It,  in  the 
popular  sense  of  the  word,  proves  both  sides  of  any 
question.  The  popular  use  of  the  term  is,  to  make 
obscurity  more  obscure,  and  is  very  unhappily  chosen 
in  the  explanation  of  a  science.  Now,  to  throw  the 
whole  grand  drama  of  mysterious  mesmerism  under 
such  an  ^^wraeaning  and  all-meaning  term,  looks  a  little 
suspicious. 

(Note  2.)  The  reader  will  recollect  that  my  own 
opinion  of  the  phenomena  of  mesmerism  was,  that 
the  operator  drew  the  positive  electric  fluid  from  his 
subject,  and  that  the  operator  and  subject-  bore  the 
same  relation  to  each  other  that  the  two  sides  of  a 
Leyden  jar  do  when  charged,  and  that  every  sensa- 
tion of  the  operator  was  a  partial  discharge  as  it  were 
of  the  jar;  and  any  effect  produced  on  the  operator 
(the  positive  side  of  the  jar)  must  be  felt  by  the  sub- 
ject by  induction,  who  here  represents  the  negative 
side  of  the  jar. 

This  is  perfectly  philosophical,  and  in  accordance 
with  the  laws  that  govern  electricity.  For  when  a 
subject  is  so  mesmerized,  he  has  not  his  usual  or 
natural  share  of  the  positive  fluid,  and  must  be  in  an 
abnormal  state.     This  state  /called  mesmerism. 

But  the  author  referred  to  in  this  note  says,  when 
a  person  lacks  the  proper  quantum  of  what  he  calls 
nervo-vital  fluid,  it  is  supplied  to  him  by  the  operator, 
until  there  is  an  equilibrium  between  the  two  ;  and  this 

is  MAGNETISM. 

Now,  this  is  not  possible ;  for  the  person  lacking 


.m- 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  85 

the  proper  quantum  must  be  in  the  abnormal  state, 
and  having  his  proper  quantum  imparted  to  him  from 
a  full  brain,  would  put  him  back  into  the  njrmal  state, 
and  he  would  be  6/e-mesmerized  instead  of  being  mes- 
merized. 

No  truth  can  be  more  plain.  If  electricity  has  any 
thing  at  all  to  do  in  the  animal  economy,  he  who  has 
his  proper  quantum  or  natural  share  must  be  in  a 
natural  state,  and  he  who  has  not  his  natural  share  or 
proper  quantum  must  be  in  an  w/znatural  state.  So,  in- 
stead of  the  operator's  equalizing  the  electrical  fluid 
between  himself  and  subject,  he  must  destroy  that 
equilibrium  to  produce  an  unnatural  or  mesmeric  state. 

(Note  3.)  We  do  not  deny  "the  operation  of  the 
law  of  equilibrium,"  but  contend  that,  "  in  perfect 
accordance  with  all  the  principles  of  philosophy  in  the 
known  realms  of  nature,"  such  an  equilibrium  must 
produce  the  natural  state  of  the  subject;  and  to  pro- 
duce the  mesmeric  state,  is  to  destroy  nature's  equi- 
librium, not  restore  it. 

(Note  4.)  That  the  iron  of  the  blood  is  magnetic, 
needs  the  best  of  proof.  The  fact,  if  it  is  a  fact,  is  one 
of  the  strong  pillars  in  the  proud  temple  of  electro- 
mesmerism  ;  and  if  it  is  not  a  fact,  that  temple  must 
totter  to  its  fall.  We  shall  deny  the  fact,  and  call  for 
a  demonstration  of  it. 

(Note  5.)  That  venous  blood  is  negative,  and 
arterial  is  positive,  needs  also  demonstration. 

(Note  6.)  I  once  thought  so  too,  but  subsequent 
experiments  convinced  me  that  the  polarity  of  the 
subject  was  just  what  the  operator's  fancy  happened 
to  make  it. 

(Note  7.)  ''  We  thus  perceive  that  the  nervo-vital 
8 


86  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

fluid  is  manufactured  out  of  electricity  taken  into  the 
lungs  at  every  inspiration." 

How  do  we  perceive  it?  Not  by  any  demonstra- 
tion which  is  given  of  the  fact,  but  by  the  use  of  a  few 
terms  manufactured  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  a 
theory.  Now,  what  do  we  know  by  the  term  ''  nervo- 
vital  fluid,^^  man  ufactured  out  of  electricity  ?  Suppose 
we  assume  that  oxygen  or  hydrogen  is  the  agent  in 
mesmerism.  Then  we  should  have  the  nervo-vital 
fluid  manufactured  out  of  oxygen  or  hydrogen,  and 
the  term  oxy-vital  fluid  or  hydro-vital  fluid  would 
answer  the  purpose  in  explanation  of  the  phenomena 
just  as  well.  And  if  we  were  called  upon  to  prove 
the  existence  of  either  of  these  principles  in  the  vital 
fluid,  we  would  just  turn  upon  our  opponents  and 
challenge  them,  first,  to  prove  the  existence  of  a  "  ner- 
vo-vital fluid,"  and  then  prove  the  presence  of  elec- 
tricity in  that  fluid.  If  this  would  not  be  proving  our 
position,  still  we  should  not  be  deeper  in  the  mud  than 
our  opponents  are  in  the  mire. 

Again  :  it  is  said  in  this  note,  "  We  put  forth  a  will. 
That  WILL  stirs  the  nervo-vital  fluid  in  the  voluntary 
nerves."  And  again ;  it  is  said  that  this  nervo- 
vital  fluid  is  "  living  galvanism,"  "  perfect  galvanism." 
And  in  demonstration  of  the  manner  in  which  mind 
comes  in  contact  with  matter,  so  as  to  enable  us  to 
move  our  limbs,  &c.,  we  are  referred  to  galvanic 
experiments  on  a  dead  criminal. 

(Note  8.)  And  how  is  the  fact  demonstrated  ? 
First :  we  are  informed  that  "  we  put  forth  a  will, 
and  that  will  proudly  stirs  the  nervous  fluid,  that 
stirring  vibrates  the  voluntary  nerves,  this  contracts 
the  muscles,  the  muscles  raise  the  arm,  and  the  arm 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  87 

« 

moves  dead  matter."  Very  well :  now,  where  are  we 
to  find  positive  proof  of  all  this  ?  Why,  in  the  in- 
stance given  of  the  dead  criminal.  But  it  so  happens 
that  the  dead  criminal  has  no  will  to  put  forth;  yet 
his  voluntary  nerves  are  "  proudly  stirred,"  his  limbs 
move,  and  his  violent  gesticulations  move  dead  matter. 

Now,  if  this  proves  any  thing,  it  proves  too  much. 
For  it  proves  this:  "living  galvanism"  makes  the  first 
move,  and  moves  the  living  mind  to  "  put  forth  a  will." 
But  in  a  dead  man,  where  there  is  no  mind  to  move 
or  will  to  put  forth,  it  becomes  dead  galvanism,  and 
yet  moves  the  voluntary  nerves ;  and  hence  these  wild 
gesticulations  and  horrid  grimaces  are  the  effect  of  the 
living  mind  of  the  galvanic  battery^  which  here  put  the 
jimbs  of  a  dead  man  into  action. 

(Note  9.)  "  Is  there  any  power  in  mind  to  produce 
a  result  by  simply  willing  it?  "  "  Mesmerism,  then, 
must  stand  or  fall  on  the  existence  or  non-existence  of 
such  a  power."  The  question  is  totally  irrelevant  to 
the  case.  The  proper  question  is,  Is  there  any  power 
in  man  to  produce  a  result  by  simply  willing  it  ?  I 
contend  there  is  not;  and  mesmerism  must  fall  on 
the  non-existence  of  such  a  power. 

That  there  is  such  a  power  in  the  Deity,  no  Christian 
can  doubt ;  but  until  man  can,  by  simply  willing, 
"  make  one  hair  white  or  black,"  or,  "  by  taking 
thought,  can  add  one  cubit  unto  his  stature,"  it  cannot 
be  proved  that  he  possesses  such  a  power.  Tables 
may  tip,  and  demons  may  rap,  and  the  devil  may  run 
swine  into  the  sea  and  drown  them ;  but  I  challenge 
the  world  to  prove  that  man^  by  the  mere  effort  of  his 
will^  can  do  either. 

(Note  10.)  "  Canst  thou  by  searching  find  out 
God  ?  canst  thou  find  out  the  Almighty  unto  perfee- 


88  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

tion  ?  For  vain  man  would  be  wise,  though  man  be 
born  like  a  wild  ass's  colt." 

Admitting  the  conclusion  drawn  in  the  preceding 
notes,  we  do,  indeed,  put  into  the  hands  of  the 
atheist  a  weapon  by  which  he  is  sure  to  defeat  us  ; 
for,  according  to  this  conclusion,  if  we  admit  that 
there  is  a  God,  we  admit,  also,  that  electricity  is  the 
god  of  God  ;  for  it  is  evident,  from  said  conclusion, 
that  he  can,  indeed,  do  nothing  without  electricity,  to 
which  he  is  indebted  for  all  his  power. 

(Note  11.)  "  Remember  the  former  things  of  old  : 
for  I  am  God,  and  there  is  none  else  ;  I  am  God, 
and  there  is  none  like  me." 

The  compound  dilemma  found  in  this  note  is  im- 
properly stated,  and  is  therefore  irrelevant.  It  should 
be.  If  an  infinite  God,  by  the  energies  of  his  will,  can 
produce  infinite  results,  then  a  finite  god,  by  his  will, 
can  produce  a  finite  result ;  but  a  finite  god,  by  his 
will,  cannot  produce  any  result,  so  an  infinite  God, 
by  his  will,  cannot  produce  any  result  I  Of  this  di- 
lemma, either  horn  may  be  taken. 

And  now  for  the  consistency  of  the  argument.  If 
it  prove  that  the  will  of  man  can  produce  any  result, 
then,  by  the  same  kind  of  sapient  logic,  I  will  prove 
that  the  quills  of  a  porcupine  will  make  a  tolerable 
hat,  by  the  same  process  that  the  hatter  makes  a  good 
hat  out  of  the  fur  of  the  beaver.  If  the  fur  of  a 
beaver,  by  the  skill  of  the  hatter,  will  make  a  good 
hat,  then  the  quills  of  a  porcupine,  by  the  skill  of  the 
hatter,  will  make  a  tolerable  hat.  But  the  quills  of  a 
porcupine,  by  the  skill  of  the  hatter,  will  not  make  a 
hat;  so  the  fur  of  the  beaver,  by  the  skill  of  the  hat- 
ter, will  not  make  a  hat.  Of  this  dilemma,  either 
horn  may  be  taken.     Now,  I  am  willing  to  meet  any 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  "  89 

intelligent  clergyman  in  controversy  who  uses  such 
logic,  and  I  will  either  make  him  acknowledge  that 
porcupine  quills  will  make  hats,  or  drive  him  to  deny 
that  one  may  be  made  of  the  fur  of  beavers.  "  I 
will  leave  him  no  other  alternative." 

Now,  before  any  thing  definite  can  be  proved  by 
such  logic,  the  respective  qualities  and  properties  of 
the  things  must  be  proved  to  be  similar,  though  dif- 
fering in  degrees  only.  I  have  proved  by  Scripture 
that  there  is  bat  one  God,  and  that  there  is  none  like 
him.  His  divine  avill,  therefore,  may  and  does  pro- 
duce effect.  But  man,  not  being  like  him,  may  have 
a  human  will,  not  able  to  produce  effect.  There  may 
not  be  any  more  similarity  in  the  two  than  there  is 
between  the  quill  and  fur  just  alluded  to.  And  be- 
cause man  can  build  a  steamship,  it  does  not  prove 
that  an  oyster  can  make  a  hod  or  wheelbarrow. 

(Note  12.)  The  object  of  this  note  is  to  prove  that 
the  Great  Spirit  comes  in  contact  with  matter  through 
the  medium  of  electricity.  But  in  the  instance  of 
the  dead  criminal,  electricity  comes  in  contact  with 
matter  without  the  effort  of  a  will.  This  involves 
the  advocates  of  the  electrical  theory  in  something 
like  "  a  compound  dilemma."  If  electricity  comes  in 
contact  with  matter  without  the  agency  of  will, 
WILL  may  come  in  contact  with  matter  without  the 
agency  of  electricity.  But  will  cannot  come  in  con- 
tact with  matter  without  the  aid  of  electricity  ;  so 
electricity  cannot  come  in  contact  with  matter  with- 
out the  aid  of  will.  Of  this  dilemma,  they  may 
take  either  horn  ;  or,  for  their  better  accommodation, 
we  will  give  them  another.  If  a  finite  quantity  of 
electricity  can  move  a  finite  quantity  of  dead  matter, 
as  the  limbs  of  a  dead  criminal,  without  the  agency 
8* 


90  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

of  human  will,  then  an  infinite  quantity  of  electricity 
can  move  an  infinite  quantity  of  matter,  as  the  whole 
universe  of  God,  without  the  agency  of  divine  will. 
But  an  infinite  quantity  of  electricity  cannot  move 
and  govern  the  universe  of  God,  without  the  agency 
of  divine  will  ;  so  a  finite  quantity  of  it  cannot 
move  the  limbs  of  a  dead  man,  without  the  agency 
of  human  will.  Of  this  dilemma  they  may  take 
either  horn. 

(Note  18.)  "  Through  faith  we  understand  that  the 
worlds  were  framed  by  the  word  of  God,  so  that 
things  which  are  seen  were  not  made  of  things  which 
do  appear."  (Heb.  xi.  3.)  The  world  could  not  have 
been  made  of  electricity,  which  we  are  told  is  the 
only  primal  matter ;  because  that  is  a  thing  that 
appears,  or  is  seen^  felt.,  heard^  tasted^  and  smelt. 
And  another  inspired  apostle  gives,  as  infajlible  proof, 
seeing'  and  hearing.  (Acts  i.  3.)  So  the  world  must 
either  have  been  made  of  nothing,  or  of  a  material 
wholly  unknown  to  man  ;  and  that  has  never  come 
within  the  reach  of  his  senses. 

(Note  14.)  We  wonder  if  Milton  was  as  orthodox 
in  his  views  of  the  devil  as  he  was  on  the  eternity  of 
matter.  If  he  w^as,  we  shall  not  be  at  a  loss  to 
account  for  the  phenomena  of  mesmerism. 

(Note  15.)  The  argument  in  this  note  is  that  noth- 
ings even  by  divine  agency,  could  not  have  been  created 
into  something ;  if  it  were  so,  then  it  must  have  been 
done  instantly  ;  and  if  instantly,  then  it  must  have 
been  something  and  nothing  at  the  same  instant, 
which  is  the  climax  of  absurdity.  This  is  illustrated 
as  follows  :  "  We  raise  an  axe,  and,  at  a  single  blow, 
cut  in  two  a  piece  of  wood  one  inch  in  diameter. 
Now,  it  is  certain  that   this  wood   was    not  severed 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  91 

instantly  in  all  its  parts.  If  it  were,  then  the  lower 
part  would  have  been  cut  at  the  same  instant  that 
the  upper  part  was ;  which  is  perfectly  absurd,  and 
therefore  impossible."  Now,  if  this  proves  the  im- 
possibility of  nothing  being  formed  into  something, 
because  it  cannot  be  nothing  and  something  at  the 
same  instant,  then  we  shall  be  able  to  prove  that  a 
stick,  one  inch  in  diameter,  cannot,  by  any  number  of 
blows  with  an  axe,  be  cut  in  two  at  all.  We  will 
first  suppose  the  diameter  of  the  stick  to  be  divided 
into  two  equal  halves.  It  is  evident  the  first  half 
must  be  cut  before  the  second ;  and  now  the  second 
half  consists  also  of  two  equal  parts,  the  first  of 
which  must  be  cut  before  the  second,  and  so  on,  ad 
infinitum;  the  axe  may  cut  and  cut,  to  all  eternity; 
and  before  the  stick  can  be  severed,  there  will  be  still 
a  subdivision,  the  first  half  of  which  must  be  severed 
before  the  second  can  be  ;  so  the  stick  never  can  be 
cut  quite  in  two,  until  the  last  half  of  the  remotest 
subdivision  is  cut  at  the  same  instant  that  the  first  is. 
This,  we  are  told,  is  perfectly  absurd,  and  therefore 
impossible.  So,  by  this  process,  the  cutting  of  the 
stick  in  two  resembles  those  mathematical  lines 
which  approximate  each  other  forever,  without  a  pos- 
sibility of  touching.  So,  since  we  cannot  understand 
how  nothing  can  be  nothing  and  something  at  the 
same  instant,  we  deny  the  ability  of  God  to  create 
something  out  of  nothing.  Yet  we  allow  the  pos- 
sibility of  cutting  an  inch  of  wood  in  two ;  while  we 
cannot  comprehend  how  the  last  particle  remains  cut 
and  uncut  at  the  same  instant,  or  how  the  last  re- 
maining  portion  of  it  is  cut  at  the  same  instant  that 
the  next  preceding  one  is. 

(Note  16.)     In  this  note  it  is  stated  that  mind  is 


92 


THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 


that  substance  which  has  innate  or  living  motion,  &c. ; 
and  in  the  fourth  lecture  it  is  stated  that  electricity 
"  is  that  eternal,  primal  matter  out  of  which  all  other 
substances  were  made."  It  follows  that  mind,  being 
a  substance,  is  electricity.  It  is  also  admitted  that 
the  Deity  possesses  a  mind,  and  that  his  mind  is 
infinite.  Now,  it  is  self-evident  that  there  cannot  be 
but  one  material  mind  in  existence,  for  that  one,  being 
infinite,  leaves  no  room  for  another.  Then  it  follows 
that  man  has  no  electro-mentality,  or  God  has  none  ; 
for  the  moment  we  admit  one  substance  fills  all  space, 
that  moment  we  deny  the  possibility  of  there  being 
another  substance  in  that  space.  It  is  an  intuitive 
axiom,  that  two  substances  cannot  occupy  the  same 
space  at  the  same  time.  But  it  may  be  said,  in  this 
case,  two  substances  do  not  occupy  the  same  space  : 
the  mind  of  God  is  electricity,  and  the  mind  of  man 
also,  and  they  are  both  one  substance.  Well,  then, 
the  mind  of  God  is  not  infinite  ;  it  does  not  fill  all 
space,  but  leaves  room  to  be  occupied  by  finite  minds. 
This  involves  us  in  some  kind  of  a  dilemma,  either 
simple  or  compound.  If  the  mind  of  God  is  elec- 
tricity and  infinite,  and  hence  capable  of  moving 
dead  matter,  the  mind  of  man  must  be  immaterial 
and  finite,  and  hence  incapable  of  moving  dead  mat- 
ter ;  but  if  the  mind  of  man  is  immaterial,  and  yet 
capable  of  moving  dead  matter,  the  mind  of  God, 
being  electricity,  is  incapable  of  doing  it.  So,  be- 
tween the  two  levers,  it  is  impossible  for  dead  matter 
to  be  moved.  Of  this  dilemma  either  horn  may  be 
taken. 

(Note  17.)  In  this  note  we  have  a  brief  history  of 
the  creation  of  all  things  out  of  electricity  —  "the 
inexhaustible  fountain   of  primal  matter."     The  sun 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  93 

is  pure  electricity,  emanating  from  the  Deity,  who 
also,  himself,  is  the  inexhaustible  Source  of  that 
subtile  agent.  We  must  here  notice  some  peculiar- 
ities in  mesmeric  logic.  Electricity  is  said  to  be  the 
only  primal  matter  in  existence,  out  of  which  every 
thing  is  m^ade,  and  God  himself  is  material  —  of 
course  he  is  electricity.  Well,  next  we  are  told  that 
the  sun  is  ^^pure  electricity."  Now,  as  there  is  but 
one  primal  substance,  how  can  that  substance,  in  any 
of  its  forms,  be  impure  ?  There  is  no  other  ingredient 
in  nature  to  be  commingled  with  it  to  make  it  im- 
pure. But  this  is  not  all.  The  Deity  himself  is 
electricity,  the  fountain  head  of  primal  miatter ;  and 
the  sun  is  ^''pure  electricity."  Then  the  sun  is  a  pwe 
Gfod,  and  those  heathen  who  worship  the  sun  are 
the  iTiOst  scientific  andjowre  worshippers  of  God;  and 
instead  of  our  sending  missionaries  among  them  to 
enlighten  them,  they  ought  to  send  their  missionaries 
here  to  enlighten  us. 

Again :  according  to  the  electro-mesmeric  econ- 
omy of  nature,  in  the  creation  of  all  things  out  of 
electricity,  the  heaviest  forms  of  it  took  the  lowest 
point.  First  the  more  ponderous  portions  of  our 
globe,  and  then  those  which  are  lighter  ;  and  last  and 
lightest  of  all,  the  sun  was  proudly  enthroned  upon 
the  highest  pinnacle  of  our  system.  This  upsets  the 
Newtonian  philosophy.  Astronomers  have  hitherto 
considered  the  sun  as  occupying  the  lowest  point  in 
the  solar  system,  about  which  other  bodies  revolve. 
And  instead  of  his  being  of  less  density  than  those 
which  he  enlightens,  it  is  not  true  in  every  instance. 
It  is  found  that  a  cubic  foot  of  his  substance  weighs 
about  1150  ounces ;  a  cubic  foot  of  Mercury,  about 
9166  ;   of  Venus,  about   5733 ;  of  the    earth,   4500 ; 


94  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC! 

Mars  and  the  moon,  a  little  more  than  3000 ;  of  Ju- 
piter, 1042.  The  weight  of  water  being  1000,  Ju- 
piter would  but  just  sink  in  that  liquid  ;  while  Saturn 
and  Herschel,  especially  the  last,  would  swim  lightly 
on  it,  and  Neptune  would  rise  in  such  an  atmosphere 
as  ours  like  a  balloon,  and  float  on  its  surface  as 
smoke  and  vapor.  So,  to  maintain  the  position  that 
the  will  of  man  is  capable  alone  of  moving  dead 
matter,  a  total  shipwreck  is  made  of  all  former  prin- 
ciples of  philosophy,  and  the  sublime  science  of 
astronomy  is  made  to  turn  a  gi'and  somerset  to 
complete  the  hallucination. 

(Note  18.)  This  admission  oversets  the  "  com- 
pound dilemma"  found  in  Note  11.  If  God  is  dis- 
tinct from  matter,  man  is  not.  Now,  if  the  will  of  a 
Being  who  is  distinct  from  matter  can  move  dead 
matter,  how  does  it  prove  that  the  will  of  a  being 
who  is  not  distinct  from  matter  can  do  it  ? 

(Note  19.)  This  is  a  great  mistake.  I  have  fre- 
quently witnessed  as  successful  experiments  in  rainy 
evenings  as  at  any  other  times  when  the  weather  ,, 
was  the  most  favorable  to  electrical  experiments. 
Besides,  the  same  author,  in  his  fourth  lecture,  gives 
a  circumstance,  related  to  him  by  Dr.  Patterson,  of 
Lynchburg,  Yirginia,  of  a  young  lady  who  was  taken 
sick,  and  was  attended  by  a  physician  residing  some 
eight  or  ten  miles  distant,  who  prescribed  and  left, 
promising  to  be  there  again  the  next  evening.  That 
evening  was  attended  with  a  tremendous  storm  of 
rain  and  high  winds.  Yet  the  patient  being  catalep- 
tic, and  in  a  state  of  clairvoyance,  saw  through  rain 
and  darkness  her  physician  riding  on  horseback,  and 
drenched  with  rain,  even  when  he  was  miles  from 
her,  and  watched    his   approach  till   he   hitched    his 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  96 

horse  and  stepped  to  the  door  and  rapped.  In  this 
case,  neither  rain  nor  darkness  intercepted  the  clair- 
voyant faculty. 

(Note  20.)  The  object  of  introducing  this  note  into 
this  work  is  merely  to  show  the  amount  of  interest 
this  thing  is  capable  of  creating  in  the  public  mind. 
The  lectures  from  which  we  make  these  quotations 
were  delivered  in  Boston  to  a  people  who  are  known 
to  be  intelligent  and  highly  respectable.  It  is  not 
the  low  and  ignorant  that  are  the  most  liable  to 
be  deceived  by  this  electro-illusion ;  it  is  well  calcu- 
lated to  deceive,  if  possible,  the  very  elect.  It  is, 
therefore,  the  more  formidable,  and  demands  the  great- 
er exertions  to  counteract  its  evil  effects. 

It  is  spiritual  wickedness  (or  wicked  spirits)  in  high 
places  which  we  have  to  contend  against;  and  we 
ought  to  come  out  against  it  with  a  high  hand. 

Before  we  close  this  part  of  the  subject,  we  will 
briefly  notice  another  popular  method  of  explaining 
the  phenomenon  of  clairvoyance.  It  is  said  that  there 
is  a  light  so  much  finer  than  atmospheric  light,  and  of 
that  peculiar  property,  that  it  can  penetrate  and  pass 
through  all  substances  in  existence.  This  light  pro- 
duces in  the  brain  what  is  called  cerebral  lucidity^  and 
is  that  by  which  clairvoyants  are  enabled  to  see  things 
otherwise  invisible.  This  finer  light  is  called  magnetic 
or  GALVANIC  light.  Concerning  it,  we  need  to  say  but 
little  more  than  that  the  proof  of  its  existence  is  found 
only  in  the  electro-mesmeric  theory.  Even  if  its 
existence  could  be  demonstrated,  we  have  already 
shown  that  it  would  not  account  for  the  fact,  that 
clairvoyants  do  sometimes  see  and  describe  things 
before  they  come  to  pass.  This  light  is  also  said  to 
exist  in  the  brain.     But  it  is  readily  seen  that  a  light 


96  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

in  the  brain  will  not  enable  one  to  see  things  out  of 
it.  Go  into  a  room  in  a  dark  night,  and  light  up  from 
one  to  a  hundred  lamps  ;  and  the  lighter  the  room  is, 
the  less  visible  things  become  seen  through  the  window 
at  a  distance  without. 

Before  we  close  this  account,  we  will  compare  the 
clairvoyant  faculty  of  seeing  with  natural  vision,  and 
see  if  there  is  that  analogy  between  them  which  is 
pretended  by  the  advocates  of  the  electro-mesmeric 
theory.  We  will  first  examine  the  philosophy  of 
natural  vision,  and  the  properties  of  light  which 
produce  it.  Roemer,  an  eminent  Danish  astronomer, 
in  attempting  to  ascertain  the  exact  time  of  the  revo- 
lution of  one  of  Jupiter's  satellites,  by  observing  its 
successive  eclipses,  discovered  that  light  has  a  progres- 
sive motion,  but  at  the  inconceivable  rate  of  two  hun- 
dred thousand  miles  per  second.  This  appeared  evident 
from  the  following  circumstances  :  — 

When  the  earth  and  Jupiter  were  both  on  one 'side 
of  the  sun  at  the  same  time,  and  the  three  bodies,  the 
earth,  the  sun,  and  Jupiter,  made  a  straight  line,  the 
eclipses  of  the  satellite  of  Jupiter  took  place  sixteen 
minutes  sooner  than  when  the  earth  was  on  one  side 
of  the  sun,  and  Jupiter  on  the  opposite  ;  in  which  case 
the  earth  was  farther  from  Jupiter  in  the  latter  in- 
stance, by  the  diameter  of  her  orbit,  than  she  was  in 
the  former ;  and  the  Tight,  in  passing  over  this  space, 
the  diameter  of  the  earth's  orbit,  occupied  about  six- 
teen minutes,  or  eight  minutes  in  coming  from  the  sun 
to  the  earth. 

Now,  with  regard  to  light  itself,  there  are  two  theo- 
ries. One  is  called  the  corpuscular  theory,  and  the  other 
the  undulatory  theory.  The  corpuscular  theory  sup- 
poses particles  of  matter  flying  off  from  the  luminous 


OPPOSITION     LINE. 


97 


body  to  the  eye,  and,  inpinging  upon  the  nervous 
mernbrane,  (the  retina,)  affects  it  so  as  to  produce 
vision,  by  producing  an  inverted  image  of  the  object 
seen.  The  undulatory  theory  supposes  there  is  an 
excessively  rare,  subtile,  and  highly  elastic  medium, 
which  pervades  all  space,  and  is  put  into  undulations 
by  the  luminous  body;  and  these  undulations,  pene- 
trating the  eye,  and  falling  on  the  retina,  communicate 
to  it  similar  undulations,  the  effect  of  which  is  to  pro- 
duce vision.  And  further:  it  has  been  shown  by  Sir 
Isaac  Newton,  by  a  refined  problem  in  the  analysis  of 
light,  that  those  beautiful  colors  seen  in  the  rainbow 
are  produced  by  different  undulations  of  the  elastic 
medium  by  which  light  is  transmitted ;  that  is,  when 
this  medium  vibrates  at  a  certain  rate,  a  certain  col- 
ored light  is  the  result;  and  if  at  another  certain  rate, 
another  colored  light  is  the  result;  and  when  this 
medium  does  not  vibrate  at  all,  or  when  one  vibration 
is  cancelled  by  another,  the  result  is  total  darkness. 

From  the  following  table,  it  may  be  seen  what  num- 
ber of  vibrations  in  an  inch,  and  in  a  second  of  time, 
are  made  in  producing  all  the  primary  colors ;  — 


S 

o 

f— « 

o 

O 


Extreme  Red 

Red 

Orange 

Yellow 

Green. 

Blue 

Indigo 

Violet 

Extreme  Violet 

9 


.-J  ^ 

O  p;  •■-( 


0,000,261 
0,000,256 
0,000.240 
0,000,227 
0,000,211 
0,000,196 
0,000,185 
0,000,174 
0,000,  lo7 


o  o'3 


37,640 
39,180 
41,610 
44,000 
47,460 
51,110 
54,070 
57,490 
59,750 


^  2  rt 

o  *j  o 


458,000, 
477,000, 
506,000, 
535,000, 
577,000, 
022,000, 
658,000. 
699,000, 
727,000, 


000,000,000 
000,000,000 
000,000,000 
000,000,000 
000,000,000 
000,000,000 
000,000,000 
000,000,000 
000,000,000 


% 


98  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

Well  might  Isaiah  exclaim,  "  O  Lord,  thou  art  my 
God ;  I  will  exalt  thy  name ;  for  thou  hast  done  won- 
derful things  I  "  It  is  wonderful.  When  we  look  at 
the  beautiful  petals  of  a  rose,  this  medium  is  vibrating 
in  the  eye  at  the  inconceivable  rate  of  four  hundred 
and  fifty-eight  billions  of  times  in  a  second,  and  the 
result  is,  to  our  senses,  the  petals  are  red ;  whereas,  if 
the  vibrations  had  been  five  hundred  and  seventy-seven 
billions,  we  should  have  called  them  green. 

By  inspecting  the  table,  it  will  be  seen  that,  to  pro- 
duce the  violet  color,  the  vibrations  are  quickest ;  and 
to  produce  the  red,  they  are  the  slowest.  Now,  when 
a  beam  of  light  is  let  into  a  darkened  room,  and  suf- 
fered to  pass  through  a  prism,  it  forms  an  oblong 
figure  on  the  opposite  wall,  called  a  spectrum,  having 
in  it  all  the  colors  in  the  above  table,  in  their  inversed 
order,  —  the  red  being  at  the  bottom,  and  the  violet  at 
the  top,  —  according  to  the  different  refrangibilities  of 
the  difierent  colored  rays.  But  there  appears  to  be 
other  rays  that  are  invisible,  or  not  colored  at  all ; 
these  are  called  calorific,  or  heat-making  rays,  and  they 
fall  next  below  the  red  rays.  What,  then,  must  be 
the  number  of  vibrations  of  this  medium  to  produce 
heat?  As  they  are  invisible,  their  undulations  cannot 
be  determined  by  the  same  process  that  those  of  the 
colored  rays  are  ;  but  an  approximation  to  their  num- 
ber may  be  found  by  a  mathematical  problem,  and  is 
in  the  neighborhood  of  four  hundred  and  forty-seven 
billions.  Now,  this  astonishingly  subtile  substance 
passes  through  nothing  freely,  so  as  to  produce  dis- 
tinct vision,  except  thin,  transparent  substances.  But 
that  medium  through  which  clairvoyant  vision  is 
transmitted  must  be  infinitely  finer  and  more  subtile 
than  this,  as  much  so  as  the  waves  of  solar  light  are 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  99 

less  than  the  waves  of  the  ocean.  Now,  what  theory 
can  stand,  built  on  the  supposition  of  the  existence 
of  such  a  medium,  until  its  existence  has  some  better 
demonstration  than  the  clairvoyant  faculty  ?  Besides, 
if  it  is  obedient  to  the  laws  of  solar  light,  which  it 
must  be  to  produce  vision,  a  clairvoyant  could  very 
seldom  tell  what  color  objects  were  of,  or  which  way 
they  are  from  the  place  of  observation  ;  both  of  which 
they  do.  For  it  is  a  law  in  optics,  that  objects  are. 
always  seen  in  the  direction  the  rays  of  light  have 
last  on  entering  the  eye.  Now,  the  apparent  direction 
of  an  object  seen  by  the  solar  light  does  not  so  much 
depend  on  its  real  direction  as  it  does  on  the  number 
and  densities  of  the  media  the  visual  rays  have  passed 
through,  and  their  angle  of  incidence  to  those  media, 
and  also  the  reflections  these  rays  have  made  before 
they  reach  the  eye.  But  the  clairvoyant  faculty  pays 
no  respect  to  these  immutable  laws,  but  sees  things  in 
their  true  colors,  and  always  straight  ahead,  no  matter 
if  the  electro-mesmeric  light  has  passed  through  hun- 
dreds of  brick  or  stone  walls,  or  through  miles  of  the 
base  of  some  adamantine  mountain  :  the  clairvoyant 
knows  nothing  of  its  refraction :  though  his  light  may 
have  passed  through  these  substances  at  all  possible 
angles  of  incidence,  and  made  all  possible  degrees  of 
refraction,  it  is  all  the  same  to  him.  Besides,  objects 
seen  in  ordinary  vision  partake  more  or  less  of  the 
color  of  the  medium  through  which  they  are  seen. 
For  instance  :  objects  seen  through  green  glass  ap- 
pear green  ;  if  seen  through  blue  glass,  they  are  blue. 
But  it  is  not  so  in  clairvoyance.  It  is  evident,  there- 
fore, that  clairvoyant  vision  is  not  produced  by  any 
of  the  laws  that   govern  natural  vision  :   and    every 


100  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

attempt  to  make  the  former  in  any  way  analogous  to 
the  latter  must,  in  the  end,  prove  a  failure. 

Even  if  we  admit  the  existence  of  this  electro- 
mesmeric  light,  it  will  not  account  for  the  fact  that 
clairvoyants  see  and  describe  scenes  before  they  are 
acted ;  and  it  is  but  a  poor  horse  that  will  carry  a 
man  safely  only  a  part  of  his  journey,  and  then  leave 
him  sticking  fast  in  the  mud,  to  get  along  the  best 
way  he  can.  It  is  altogether  too  late  in  the  day  to 
admit  as  proof  the  existence  of  things  because  we 
are  enabled  by  them  to  explain  a  phenomena.  Time 
was  when  it  was  supposed  that  this  earth  was  in  the 
common  centre  of  several  crystalline  spheres  which 
revolved  about  it,  one  of  which  it  was  supposed  the 
moon  was  fastened  to,  and  another  the  sun,  and  on 
others  the  several  planets,  and  the  fixed  stars  on 
another ;  and  by  the  revolution  of  these  spheres  was 
explained  the  apparent  revolution  of  the  heavenly 
bodies.  But  it  did  not  demonstrate  the  existence  of 
the  spheres. 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  101 


CHAPTER     VIII. 

GENERAL  REMARKS. 

It  is  said  that  mediums  through  which  spiritual 
disclosures  are  made  are  not  under  the  influence  of 
mesmerism.  This  depends  on  what  mesmerism  is 
considered  to  be.  We  have  shown  it  is  a  diseased  or 
deranged  play  of  the  faculties  of  the  mind,  by  what- 
ever means  it  may  be  brought  about,  whether  by  the 
application  of  steel  plates  to  any  part  of  the  body, 
or  by  passing  them  over  the  body,  or  the  fingers  with- 
out the  plates  ;  cr  whether  it  be  by  disease  of  body, 
or  by  the  action  of  medicine  ;  or  by  fear  or  excite- 
ment ;  by  the  wonderful  and  the  marvellous :  by 
whatever  means  the  effect  is  produced,  it  is  the  same 
when  produced.  In  the  case  referred  to  in  a  former 
chapter,  subjects  were  mesmerized  standing  against 
a  door,  and  supposing  Mesmer  to  be  on  the  other  side 
of  it  magnetizing  them.  This  did  the  work  just  as 
well  as  though  he  had  really  been  there. 

In  some  cases,  a  glove  or  kerchief  is  mesmerized 
and  sent  to  a  subject,  who,  on  receiving  it,  goes  into 
the  mesmeric  state ;  but  when  these  articles  are 
changed,  unknown  to  the  subject,  and  one  pre- 
sented which  was  not  mesmerized,  it  has  the  same 
effect.  So  in  the  use  of  Perkins's  tractors  :  when 
wooden  ones  were  used,  they  had  the  same  effect  in 
alleviating  pain  when  the  afflicted  thoug-ht  they  were 
the  real,  mysterious,  and  metallic  ones. 

So  in  psychology  :  looking  at  a  piece  of  silver  and 
9* 


102  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

zinc  has  no  more  effect  or  galvanic  action  on  the 
beholder  than  an  old  brass  button,  only  as  he  believes. 
An  operator  in  England  psychologizes  by  directing 
his  subject  to  look  at  the  teeth  of  a  comb.  This 
answers  every  purpose,  and  so  would  any  thing  else 
which  the  parties  might  have  faith  in.  There  is, 
therefore,  evidently  no  virtue  in  these  means  or  modes 
of  operation,  only  as  they  serve  to  call  into  action  the 
faith  of  the  parties.  And  "  as  a  man  thinketh,  so 
is  he."  Any  man  can  be  mesmerized,  psychologized, 
or  bewitched  by  any  of  these  means,  if  he  only  thinks 
so.  But  there  are  many  who  are  ready  to  say  they 
have  been  mesmerized  or  psychologized,  and  did  not 
believe  beforehand  that  they  could  be.  This  is  only 
acknowledging  they  have  changed  their  mind.  Now, 
the  question  is.  Did  the  effect  produce  a  change  of 
mind,  or  the  change  of  mind  produce  the  effect  ?  It 
is  evidently  the  latter ;  for  no  such  effect  can  be  pro- 
duced on  a  mind  unprepared  to  receive  it.  No  mat- 
ter how  much  unbelief  a  man  may  have  in  the  first 
place;  before  he  gets  into  the  abnormal  state,  his 
unbelief  imperceptibly  slides  into  doubting,  his  doubt- 
ing as  imperceptibly  into  belief,  and  his  belief  as  im- 
perceptibly slides  him  into  the  abnormal  state,  while 
he  verily  thinks  his  being  in  this  state  is  the  cause  of 
his  change  of  mind  ;  while  the  fact  is,  his  change  of 
mind  is  the  cause  of  his  being  in  this  state.  So  a 
person  who  does  not  believe  in  ghosts  never  sees  one 
till  he  sees  something  to  shake  his  unbelief  and  set 
him  to  doubting ;  and  that  very  instant  he  is  sure  he 
sees  a  ghost.  But  if  he  knows  it  is  physically  and 
morally  impossible  for  a  ghost  to  be  seen,  he  may^ 
nevertheless,  see  one  under  a  peculiar  hallucination  of 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  103 

the  mind,  which  at  all  times  he  cannot  control.  (See 
Chapter  X.,  near  the  close.) 

Besides,  this  kind  of  hallucination  produced .  by- 
excitement  is  sometimes,  to  some  persons,  irresistibly- 
contagious.  An  instance  which  occurred  to  the  au- 
thor we  will  relate  :  — 

Some  five  or  six  years  ago,  a  half  dozen  or  more 
young  gentlemen  and  ladies  returning  home  from  a 
singing  school  in  the  evening,  very  unceremoniously 
rushed  into  my  room  in  great  excitement,  saying  they 
had  seen  a  new  and  very  large  star  in  the  heavens, 
which  was  continually  "jumping"  about,  first  in  one 
direction  and  then  in  another ;  and  all  at  once,  calling 
me  out  to  see  it.  After  reasoning  with  them  a  while 
to  no  purpose,  and  scolding  them  smartly  for  their 
folly,  I  thought  it  might  possibly  be  something  like 
an  ig-nis  fatuus,  and  went  out  to  see  it.  But  as  soon 
as  it  was  pointed  out  to  me,  I  told  them  it  was  not  a 
new  star,  but  was  known  to  Job,  and  was  called 
Arcturus,  (in  the  knee  of  Bootes ;)  "  and  now,  when 
you  see  it  'jump,'  as  you  say,  you  may  expect  the 
universe  to  come  to  an  end."  These  words  had 
scarcely  died  on  the  air  before  it  really  leaped,  as  if 
in  mockery  of  my  incredulity,  about  thirty  feet,  in 
spite  of  my  senses.  "  There  !  there !  "  they  all  ex- 
claimed at  once  ;  "  did'nt  you  see  it  ?  "  "  See  it,"  said 
I,  (not  willing  to  own  the  fact ;)  "  the  stars  donH  move, 
I  tell  you."  Although  it  did  appear  to  move,  my 
judgment  was  not  affected ;  but  to  convince  them,  I 
put  a  straight  stick  on  a  post,  and  ranged  it  to  the 
star,  as  a  sportsman  does  the  barrel  of  his  gun  to  the 
target ;  and  after  they  had  all  seen  the  star  by  looking 
along  the  stick,  at  rest,  it  ceased  its  giddy  leaps,  and 
behaved  as  steadily  as  ever.     This   broke  the   hallu- 


104  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

cination,  and  put  a  stop  to  the  boyish  play  of  that 
old  and  respectable  gem  of  heaven. 

Such  is  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  mind :  the  laws 
that  govern  it  are  as  yet  but  little  understood.  We 
should  be  aware  of  these  deceptive  appearances,  and 
be  governed  by  the  sober  dictates  of  reason.  I  knew 
it  was  impossible  for  that  star  to  move,  and  my 
reason  finally  overpowered  the  evidence  of  my  senses. 
So,  if  a  man  knows  it  is  as  utterly  impossible  for  the 
dead  to  communicate  with  the  living,  to  him  "  dead 
men  tell  no  tales."  His  judgment  will  overpower 
the  evidence  of  his  senses.  He  can  be  no  medium, 
neither  can  he  hear  the  raps,  unless  he  is  so  far  off" 
his  guard  as  to  catch  the  hallucination. 

But  there  are  those  who  do  hear  them,  yet  know 
the  dead  do  not  make  them ;  nor  can  they  tell  how 
they  are  made,  or  whether  they  are  made  at  all.  Be- 
cause they  aite  heard,  it  is  no  proof  that  they  are 
made.  The  juggler  breaks  a  sound  egg,  and  takes 
out  a  live  rabbit,  or  a  full-grown  dove  ;  but  that  does 
not  prove  that  either  of  these  creatures  were  in  the 
egg.  The  evidence  of  our  senses  is  not  to  be  taken 
when  contrary  to  the  irrevocable  laws  of  nature.  If 
we  have  nothing  to  go  by  but  the  evidence  of  our 
senses,  in  what  are  we  above  the  brutes  ?  As  well 
might  we  say  the  sun  travels  round  the  earth  every 
twenty-four  hours,  because  it  appears  so  to  our  senses  ; 
and  that  is  as  much  as  the  brutes  can  know  about  it. 

Appearances  are  often  very  deceitful.  This  is  a 
well-known  fact ;  yet  people  are  so  easily  deceived  by 
them,  that  almost  every  man  is  striving  to  make  a 
good  appearance  in  the  world,  and  to  pass  himself 
off"  for  a  little  more  than  he  is  worth. 

This   is   emphatically  an   age  of  deception.     But 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  105 

few  articles  can  find  a  sale  in  market  that  are  not 
dressed  up  in  some  deceptive  appearance  ;  and  he  is 
but  a  dull  salesman  who  is  not  well  skilled  in  the  art 
of  deception,  and  will  meet  with  but  few  customers. 
We  have  a  law  to  punish  a  man  for  counterfeiting 
money;  but  if  he  does  not  counterfeit  every  thing 
else,  we  set  him  down  for  a  fool  —  a  stupid  block- 
head—  far  behind  the  times.  The  world  knows  these 
facts,  and  yet  it  loves  the  deception ;  and  the  greater 
the  deception,  the  more  easily  it  is  palmed  olF. 

No  wonder,  then,  that  the  world  should  run  into 
spiritual  manifestations  —  the  climax  of  deception. 
It  is  just  the  right  age  to  introduce  it.  It  is  up  even 
with  the  times,  or  a  little  ahead  ;  just  enough  to  be 
sought  after,  like  a  new  fashion  just  coming  into  use. 
But  the  devil  is  making  capital  out  of  it,  and  is  pretty 
sure  to  turn  it  to  his  advantage. 

But  after  all,  it  is  mesmerism ;  that  is,  a  perverted 
play  of  the  mental  faculties.  This  leads .  people  to 
believe  they  converse  with  the  spirits  of  the  dead  with 
the  same  facility  as  they  formerly  believed  rods  were 
turned  into  serpents,  as  done  by  the  Egyptians,  and 
is  now  done  by  mesmerizers,  and  has  been  done  by 
the  author.  But  if  these  things  only  appear  to  be 
done,  and  are  not  done,  what  proof  have  we  of  the 
visits  of  the  spirits  of  the  dead  ?  May  not  their  ap- 
pearance be  as  great  a  deception  ?  Besides,  they  do 
not  appear  in  person  with  visible  forms,  though  it 
may  be  expected  they  yet  will^  the  more  completely  to 
deceive ;  for  I  apprehend  the  rage  for  witchcraft 
mania  is  nearly  sufficient  to  produce  such  a  result. 
But,  says  one,  there  is  the  mysterious  intelligence 
manifested  in  these  disclosures  :  how  can  it  be  ac- 
counted for  ?     Suppose  it  cannot  be  accounted  for  at 


THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 


all.  Are  we  obliged  to  swallow  a  thing  because  we 
know  not  what  it  is  ?  We  ought  rather  to  spew  it 
out  of  the  mouth,  because  we  do  not  know  what  it  is. 
But  the  intelligence  manifested  in  spiritual  disclo- 
sures is  not  more  mysterious  than  that  manifested  by 
clairvoyants,  Avhich  was  known  years  before  any  one 
pretended  that  the  spirits  of  the  dead  had  any  thing 
to  do  in  it.  Both  clairvoyants  and  mediums  come 
into  their  respective  states  alike  —  sometimes  by  mes- 
meric passes,  in  which  cases  they  are  said  to  be  in- 
duced, and  sometimes  the  states  are  spontaneous. 

Now,  what  is  the  difference  between  a  medium  and 
a  clairvoyant  ?  Both  make  mysterious  disclosures  ; 
one  professes  to  make  them  from  the  dead,  the  other 
does  not.  It  was  first  found  that  good  subjects  of 
mesmerism  made  clairvoyants  ;  now  good  clairvoy- 
ants make  mediums.     So,  the  real  difference  between 


a  subject  of  mesmerism  and  a  medium  is  the  same  as 
that  between  a  pig  and  a  hog.  With  proper  care  and 
feeding,  the  pig  becomes  a  hog ;  so  the  mesmeric 
subject,  properly  fed  with  the  witchcraft  mania,  be- 
comes a  medium. 

When  the  spirit  rappings  were  first  heard,  in  some 
respects  they  were  nothing  new.  Frequendy  strange 
noises  and  sights  have  been  heard  and  seen  in  houses 
said  to  be  haunted,  which,  by  the  credulous,  have 
always  been  supposed  to  be  done  by  the  spirits  of  the 
dead.  It  is,  therefore,  not  strange  these  raps  should 
be  said  to  be  made  by  spirits,  —  it  is  the  usual  way  of 
accounting  for  these  things,  —  and,  as  might  be  ex- 
pected, spirits  that  can  rap  must  possess  intelligence ; 
and  on  trial,  it  was  found  they  did.  This  is  mesmer- 
ism in  the  real  sense  of  the  word.  What  mesmerizer 
ever  failed  to  prove   his  theory  by  his   experiments  ? 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  107 

We  have  shown  this  to  be  a  general  thing  through- 
out the  whole.  The  mystery  of  the  thing  has  since 
kept  up  the  excitement,  and  thousands  of  addled 
brains  are  experimenting  with  the  spirits  of  the  dead 
with  complete  success,  as  they  fondly  think.  One 
class,  the  firm  believers,  strengthens  the  minds  of  me- 
diums, which  enables  them  to  be  mediums  ;  these,  in 
tarn,  rivet  conviction  on  the  mind  of  believers.  Now, 
let  believers  stop  publishing  heir  faith,  and  mediums 
would  stop  confirming  it. 

It  will  readily  be  perceived  that,  whether  spiritual 

.  manifestations  stand  or  fall,  must  depend,  in  some 
degree,  on  whether  they  are   connected  with  mesmer- 

\  ism  or  not.  That  they  are,  we  think  we  have  suffi- 
ciently shown.  There  is  no  proof  that  either  is  any 
thing  more  than  the  effect  of  imagination.  This  has 
often  been  known  to  perform  as  great  wonders  where 
neither  mesmerism  nor  the  spirits  of  the  dead  were 
suspected.  And  whether  mesmerism  stands  or  falls, 
must  depend  on  whether  it  is  a  science  or  not ;  and 
if  it  is,  electricity,  or  something  allied  to  it,  is  called 
into  action.  This  also,  we  have  shown,  is  not  a  fact, 
and  many  scientific  men  are  beginning  to  give  it  up. 
Dr.  Haddock,  speaking  on  this  subject,  says,  — 

"  It  has  been  said  that  phreno-mesmerism  is  the 
result  of  electric  action,  and  that,  in  fact,  all  mesmeric 
action  is  but  electrical  phenomena  —  the  operator 
being  positively  electrified,  the  patient  negatively  so. 
For  this,  I  believe  there  is  no  evidence  w^hatever.  It 
is  true,  electricity  may  be  made  to  stimulate  certain 
vital  actions;  but  it  is  admitted  by  the  best  physiol- 
ogists that  there  is  no  identity  between  them.  I  have 
carefully  examined,  and  cannot  find  that  there  is  any 
perceptible  difference  between  the  electrical  and  mag- 


108  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

netic  state  of  the  mesmerized  subject  and  that  of  the 
operator,  where,  according  to  electrical  theory,  the 
greatest  difference  ought  to  be  manifested." 

It  has  enriched  no  science,  nor  added  one  item  to 
the  sum  of  human  wisdom.  We  have,  in  the  two 
preceding  chapters,  followed  the  electrical  theory 
through  its  labyrinthian  routine,  beginning  with  gross 
matter,  and  proceeding,  step  by  step,  till  we  arrived  at 
the  great  eternal  Mind  of  all,  diligently  looking 
"  through  nature  up  to  nature's  God."  Yet,  after  all 
this  toil,  we  have  the  mortification  of  finding  our- 
selves as  ignorant  concerning  the  connecting  link 
between  mind  and  matter  as  when  we  set  out.  The 
amount  of  it  all  is,  nothing  cannot  effect  something, 
and  something  is  effected ;  therefore,  there  must  be 
another  something  to  do  it.  This  is  the  will,  which 
is  an  evolution  of  electricity,  nervo-vital  fluid,  living 
galvanism,  &c.  So,  before  gross  matter  can  be  moved, 
there  is  a  material  will  to  be  set  in  motion.  This  is 
moved  by  a  material  mind,  which  again  is  moved  by 
electricity.  But  this  does  not  discover  the  motive 
power.  Here  are  four  things  moved,  viz.,  mind,  will, 
electricity,  and  matter,  each  of  which  is  something, 
and  cannot  be  a  self-moving  principle.  So,  to  say 
that  God  moves  and  governs  the  universe  through  the 
agency  of  electricity,  thus  putting  a  lever  into  his 
hand  to  move  matter,  presupposes  another  behind 
him  to  move  him. 

But  further :  it  is  evident  that  the  electro-mesmeric 
sophistry,  carried  out,  must  annihilate  every  principle 
of  divine  revelation.  According  to  it,  will  is  an 
evolution  of  electricity,  which  is  original,  primal  mat- 
ter, out  of  which  all  things  are  made,  and  of  which 
God  himself  is  the  grand  nucleus.     Then  there  is  no 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  109 

other  god  but  the  God  of  nature.  In  other  words, 
God  and  matter  are  one  and  the  same  thing,  primarily 
endowed  with  consciousness  and  power,  so  that  it  can 
assume  any  form  ;  and  in  one  grand  centre  this  con- 
scious power  chose  to  reside  and  send  forth  its  potent 
will,  to  mould  itself  into  other  forms,  some  of  which 
are  conscious  and  endowed  with  reason,  some  with 
animal  instinct,  and  some  with  vegetable;  others,  un- 
organized, are  unconscious  in  any  degree.  It  follows 
that  men  are  but  so  many  satellitic  nuclei  emanating 
from  and  revolving  about  their  primary,  to  which  they 
are  sure  to  return  when  dissolved  in  death  :  — 

"  Like  bubbles  on  the  sea  of  matter  borne, 
They  rise,  they  break,  and  to  that  sea  return." 

Hence  we  cannot  fail  to  recognize  a  fair  foundation 
laid  for  the  most  refined,  but  falsely  scientific,  system 
of  atheism.  For,  if  electricity  is  the  only  primal  mat- 
ter, and  some  condition  of  it  is  vnll^  emanating  from  a 
conscious  mind,  then  there  is  no  primal  matter  except 
mind  itself.  And  whether  we  consider  mind  to  be 
material  or  immaterial,  it  is  just  the  same.  Every 
object  and  every  phenomenon  would  be  the  same, 
whether  matter  existed  or  not  —  every  creation  or 
formation  would  be  an  emanation  of  the  one  great 
Mind  ;  and  there  is  not  the  least  necessity  of  consid- 
ering man  as  a  material  being.  If  he  imagines  he  is 
made  of  ^es/i,  bloody  and  bones,  it  is  so  to  him,  for 
his  mind  is  all  there  is  of  him,  and  he  must  be  just 
what  that  takes  him  to  be  ;  and  if  he  imagines  there 
is  an  earth  under  his  feet,  and  a  beautiful  starry 
heaven  over  his  head,  it  is  just  the  same  to  him, 
whether  these  things  really  and  materially  exist  or 
not.  In  this  way,  every  phenomenon  in  mesmerism 
10 


110  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

and  spiritual  manifestations  might  be  accounted  for. 
For  instance  :  tables  are  said  to  move  in  obedience 
to  the  human  will ;  and  the  reason  is,  there  is  no 
table  there  —  only  the  ghost  of  one,  which  exists  in 
the  minds  of  men  ;  and  all  that  is  necessary  to  move 
that  ghost  is,  to  make  the  requisite  move  in  the  mind, 
and  the  work  is  done. 

The  effect  of  the  mind  is  sometimes  very  wonder- 
ful. Physicians  are  aware  that  disease  is  sometimes 
occasioned  by  an  unhappy  state  of  it ;  and  violent 
and  sudden  mental  excitement  has,  in  some  cases, 
produced  death.  These  circumstances  might,  to  good 
advantage,  be  wove  into  the  electro-mesmeric  theory. 
Now,  whatever  the  reader  may  think  of  all  this,  it  is 
certainly  no  more  nor  less  than  graduating  in  the 
school  of  electro-mesmerism.  Admit  electricity  to  be 
the  agent,  and  you  admit  the  human  will  is  capable  of 
moving  inert  bodies  ;  and,  finally,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  mind  is  a  feature  of  electricity,  and,  ultimately, 
that  there  is  nothing  but  mind.  And  now,  perhaps 
some  of  my  readers  may  say.  Why  may  not  all  these 
things  be  so?  It  seems  to  be  the  only  rational  way  of 
accounting  for  the  wonders  of  mesmerism. 

The  first  reason  I  would  give  is,  it  does  not  ex- 
plain the  root  of  the  matter ;  that  is,  the  mystery  of 
thinking.  The  second  is,  it  drives  us  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  great  first  Cause  is  a  deceiver,  and 
has  been  playing  a  double  game  of  deception  with  us 
from  the  beginning,  in  making  objects-  appear  to  be 
material  which  are  not  so,  and  representing  to  us  that 
we  are  accountable  to  our  Maker,  while  we  are  but 
emanations  from  him,  and  reflections  of  his  mind. 
The  third  is,  it  throw^s  off  that  moral  restraint  which 
is  necessary  to  our  well  being  here,  to  say  nothing  of 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  Ill 

hereafter.  And  the  fourth  is,  it  overthrows  and  makes 
void  the  teachings  of  divine  revelation,  and  would 
tend  to  fasten  the  "  strong  delusion  "  upon  the  world. 

But  the  electro  theory  involves  us  in  another  diffi- 
culty ;  that  is,  how  to  consider  the  brute  creation.  In 
Note  16,  Chapter  VI.,  we  have  the  electrical  philos- 
ophy of  mind,  in  which  it  is  said  that  thought,  reason, 
ivill,  and  understanding',  are  not  mind,  but  the  effects 
of  mind  ;  that  is,  the  mind  reasons,  wills,  thinks,  &c. 
Now,  w^hether  brutes  reason  or  not,  they  certainly 
think  and  understand,  and  exercise  a  will ;  and  if 
they  have  but  one  attribute  of  mind,  it  proves  they 
have  a  mind ;  and  since  "  mind  is  that  substance 
which  has  innate  and  living  motion,"  it  is  the  same  in 
the  brute  as  in  man  ;  and  if  it  is  primal,  uncreated 
matter,  it  must  be  as  imperishable,  that  is,  as  exempt 
from  death,  as  the  mind  of  man  or  of  God  ;  therefore, 
they  must  be  subjects  of  happiness  and  progressive 
attainments  in  the  harmonial  spheres,  or  the  harmony 
of  the  spheres  must  be  broken. 

So,  we  are  bound  to  acknowledge  the  immortality 
of  brutes,  or  deny  the  electrical  philosophy  of  the 
mind.  But  if  we  deny  the  latter,  the  whole  electro- 
mesmeric  theory,  with  all  its  proud  temples  and  air- 
bubble  castles,  must  go  by  the  board. 

Mesmerism  is,  indeed,  a  strange  delusion.  Nothing 
can  appear  more  harmless,  at  first,  than  lightly  pass- 
ing the  fingers  over  a  patient  for  the  benevolent  pur- 
pose of  alleviating  pain.  It  does  not  seem  possible 
that  any  great  amount  of  evil  should  grow  out  of 
such  a  simple  process.  None  could  suppose  this  is 
paving  the  way  to  spiritual  manifestations.  But  so 
it  is.  "  Behold,  how  great  a  matter  a  little  fire  kin- 
dleth!"     Who  could  suppose  that  teaching  a  child  the 


112  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

names  of  a  few  characters,  called  an  alphabet,  is 
paving  the  way  to  that  mighty  difference  between 
savage  and  enlightened  nations  ?  Who  could  expect 
such  astonishing  results  could  grow  out  of  the  use  of 
these  simple  characters  ? 

But  just  so  certain  as  effects  follow  causes,  just  so 
certain  mesmerism  leads  to  spiritual  manifestations, 
and  these  to  atheism,  which  is  but  the  legitimate  off- 
spring of  mesmerism.  The  "  man  of  sin  "  is  conceived 
in  it,  and  must  be  born;  for  the  time  of  travail  has 
come;  the  last  blow  is  about  to  be  struck  at  divine 
revelation ;  and  the  last  struggle  between  Christ  and 
Antichrist  is  about  to  ensue.  The  great  day  of  his 
wrath  is  about  to  come  ;  and  who  will  be  able  to  stand? 

As  a  fair  specimen  of  the  evil  tendency  of  "  spiritual 
disclosures,"  we  give  the  following,  cut  from  "  The 
Hartford  Daily  Courant,"  Tuesday  morning,  June  7, 
1853:  — 

"ANTI-BIBLE   CONVENTION. 

"  This  infidel  assemblage  broke  up  on  Sunday  even- 
ing in  a  general  row,  without  passing  any  of  the  reso- 
lutions which  had  been  presented.  Its  object  has  been 
manifest  from  the  beginning.  It  was  concocted  by 
infidelity  as  an  attack  upon  the  Bible,  with  no  inten- 
tion of  allowing  fair  and  free  discussion,  or  deliberate 
investigation.  It  was  an  assembly  of  abolitionists, 
women's  rights  believers,  spiritual  rappers,  and  athe- 
ists, gathered  for  the  purpose  of  spitting  out  their 
venom  against  all  that  this  community  hold  sacred  — 
against  the  Bible,  which  is  the  foundation  of  our  belief 
—  against  Christ,  the  Savior  from  sin  —  against  God, 
the  Creator  of  our  being.  Each  fanatic  took  his  own 
view  of  the  subject,  and  assailed  the  Bible  from  his 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  113 

own  stand  point.  The  infidel  repeated  the  stale  and 
worn-out  puerilities  of  Voltaire  and  Tom  Paine,  and 
called  them  arguments.  The  followers  of  that  arrant 
deceiver,  Andrew  Jackson  Davis,  elevated  the  crude 
and  undigested  plagiarisms  of  his  obscure  philosophy 
above  the  teachings  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  and 
held  them  as  the  gospel  of  the  spiritualists.  The  ultra 
anti-slavery  men,  with  Garrison  at  their  head,  denied 
the  Bible  for  other  reasons.  With  them,  the  abolition 
of  slavery  in  this  country  is  of  more  importance  than 
the  light  of  Christianity,  or  the  salvation  of  souls 
through  Jesus  Christ.  Rather  than  not  accomplish 
their  object,  they  would  tear  down  the  fabric  that 
religion  and  morality  have  erected  in  New  England 
—  they  would  abolish  the  hopes  of  an  hereafter,  blot 
out  the  light  which  Christ  has  shed  over  the  world, 
and  extinguish  the  joys  and  comforts  v/hich  piety 
creates.  The  advocates  of  woman's  rights  would 
drive  the  Bible  from  its  place  in  civilized  society,  be- 
cause it  does  not  allow  woman's  equality  with  man 
in  all  things,  but  marks  out  for  her  a  different  sphere 
of  action. 

"  Throughout  the  discussion,  the  opponents  of  the 
Bible  filled  the  ears  of  the  audience  with  the  most 
revolting  blasphemies,  and  made  the  convention  a 
miniature  hell,  with  demons  spitting  out  the  concen- 
trated malice  of  their  hearts  in  terms  of  '  condensed 
damnation.'  The  most  revolting  scene  was  when  a 
specimen  of  the  '  fair  sex  '  pronounced  her  tirades 
against  the  Deity  and  the  Scriptures  —  said  to  be  the 
most  blasphemous  stuff  uttered  in  the  convention. 
Nothing  but  Christianity  has  rescued  woman  from  the 
degradation  to  which  the  tyranny  of  brute  force  had 
subjected  her,  in  all  savage  nations  —  nothing  but 
10* 


114  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

Christianity  has  bestowed  upon  her  all  that  ennobles 
and  purifies  her  character,  and  softens  and  dignifies 
her  condition.  Shame,  then,  to  the  woman  who  will 
so  far  unsex  herself  as  to  be  engaged,  amid  an  assem- 
bly of  male  infidels  and  scoffers,  in  attacking  that  in- 
stitution which  has  rescued  her  from  bondage. 

"  This  woman,  forsooth,  spurns  the  Bible  because  it 
declares,  at  its  commencement,  that  God  created 
woman  as  the  companion  of  man !  She  refuses  the 
Christianity  of  the  New  Testament  because  women 
were  not  allowed  to  speak  in  the  churches  I  She 
boldly  impugns  the  Almighty  for  the  station  in  which 
he  has  placed  her,  and  belches  out  her  blasphemies 
against  him  for  her  physical  inferiority,  and  for  his 
declaration,  in  his  holy  word,  that  he  had  given  woman 
to  man   as  his  'helpmeet'  —  to  support  his  infancy 

—  to  educate  his  young  and  tender  mind  — •-  to  build 
up  the  rising  generations  in  the  softening  influences 
of  early  piety  —  to  wean  man,  as  a  sister,  from  vice 

—  to  soothe  him  in  that  dearest  of  all  relations,  as  a 
wife,  amid  the  toils,  and  cares,  and  labors  of  the  rough 
life  through  which  he  travels.  Yes ;  from  the  cradle 
to  the  grave,  woman  is  the  '  companion  '  of  man,  the 
solace  of  his  life  hours,  the  supporter  of  Kis  dying 
moments.     God  so  ordered  —  the  Bible  so  proclaims 

—  Nature  so  ordains  —  and  shame  to  that  woman 
who  loudly  asserts  in  a  public  assembly  that  such  a 
God  is  unfit  for  her  worship,  and  is  not  hers.  Shame 
to  the  piebald  assemblage  of  atheists,  and  abolitionists, 
and  misguided  fanatics  that  would  encourage  the 
declaration. 

"  Though  we  disliked  the  idea  of  any  interference 
with  the  progress  of  their  blasphemy,  yet  we  must  do 
justice  to  the  two  Second  Advent  preachers,  Messrs. 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  115 

Storrs,  of  New  York,  and  Turner,  of  this  place,  who 
manfully  battled  for  the  truth  and  authority  of  the 
Bible.  Their  arguments  were  unanswered  and  un- 
answerable. 

"Honest,  well-meaning  men,  men  who  have  hither- 
to been  deluded  by  this  spirit-rapping  mania,  with  ail 
its  absurdity  and  folly,  can  now  see  whither  it  tends. 
It  leads  to  the  destruction  of  Christianity,  to  the  rejec- 
tion of  the  Bible,  to  the  blotting  out  of  God  from  the 
soul.  Are  they  ready  to  go  to  these  lengths  ?  Just 
as  assuredly  as  they  embrace  '  the  gospel  according 
to  Andrew  Jackson  Davis '  will  they  be  led  to  the 
rejection  of  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified,  and  to  the 
abolition  of  God  from  their  creeds.  Are  they  prepared 
for  it  ? 

"  As  long  as  this  spiritual  rapping  was  the  mere 
child  of  fatuity  and  imposture,  we  chose  to  let  it 
alone.  But  it  has  now  assumed  a  position  in  which 
the  lover  of  all  that  is  holy,  and  upright,  and  just  in  the 
universe  must  meet  it  with  tones  of  indignation  and 
notes  of  warning.  We  have  nojiesitation  in  saying, 
as  viewed  in  the  light  of  this  convention,  that  a  belief 
in  spiritual  visitations,  as  at  present  exhibited,  will 
lead  directly  and  fatally  to  the  grossest  infidelity  and 
atheism. 

"  The  chairman  announced,  at  the  adjournment  of 
the  meeting,  that  it  would  be  called  together  again  at 
some  other  city  of  New  England.  We  trust  that  the 
soil  of  Connecticut  will  never  be  desecrated  again, 
and  her  laws  set  at  defiance,  by  such  an  assemblage, 
or  the  air  of  Connecticut  polluted  again  by  such 
blasphemy." 

It  is  proper  here  to  state  the  fact,  that  this  chapter 
was  written  several  weeks  before  this  convention  was 


116  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRiVPHIG 

called.  The  article  from  the  Conrant  was  just  in  time 
to  show  what  effect  spiritual  manifestations  have 
already  had,  and  what  may  be  expected  of  them  in 
future. 

But  if  psychology  and  spiritual  manifestations  are 
the  effects  of  an  aberration  of  mind,  it  may  be  asked 
what  the  devil  has  to  do  with  it.  Almost  every 
thing  ;  for  it  is,  perhaps,  his  whole  field  of  action.  He 
is  the  prince  of  jugglers,  but  not  a  creator:  he  cannot 
make  a  field  to  work  in,  but  works  in  one  already 
made,  and  opened  by  our  proneness  to  evil.  It  is  his 
business  to  deceive,  and  ours  to  be  aware  of  his  de- 
ception. If  man  acts  according  to  the  impulse  of  his 
mind,  then  his  mind  must  be  first  acted  upon  to  do 
evil  or  to  do  good;  and  to  do  evil,  there  must  be  an 
evil  influence  to  actuate  it.  And  if  we  yield  to  this 
infTuence,  we  yield  ourselves  instruments  of  evil  through 
an  evil  operation  of  the  mind.  It  behooves  us,  there- 
fore, to  know"  by  w^hat  principle  the  mind  is  actuated. 
For  this  purpose  our  reason  was  given,  which,  with 
"  the  law  and  the  testimony,"  will  direct  us  aright  in 
all  things. 

But  if  we  follow  the  impulse  of  the  carnal  mind 
alone.  Reason  herself  soon  becomes  perverted,  and 
mental  intoxication  is  the  consequence.  Look  at  the 
inebriate;  hear  his  logic,  his  plea  for  a  dram.  His 
reasoning  appears  perfectly  philosophical  to  him;  and 
he  wonders  why  the  "  Sons  of  Temperance  "  cannot 
see  the  weight  of  his  argument  in  the  same  clear  light 
that  he  does.  Now,  why  is  this  ?  He  is- in  error  ;  and 
error,  persisted  in,  is  monomania.  No  matter  on  what 
subject  a  man  errs;  the  nature  of  error  is  the  same  — 
to  pervert  the  understanding  and  poison  the  judg- 
ment.    But  in  all  mental  intoxication,  there  is  none 


OPPOtiilTION    LINE. 


117 


greater  than  in  the  advocates  of  false  religion.  And 
why?  Because  the  devil  hates  nothing  so  much  as 
true  religion.  Hence  his  principal  object  seems  to  be 
to  turn  every  thing  of  a  truly  religious  nature  into  a 
wrong  channel;  and  what  he  cannot  entirely  over- 
throw^, as  a  w^hole,  split  up  and  divide. 

But,  since  error  perverts  the  reasoning  faculties,  it 
may  be  asked  how  those  in  error  are  to  be  reclaimed, 
since  their  reason  cannot  be  appealed  to.  We  find  it, 
indeed,  often  very  difficult  to  reclaim  them ;  but  this 
does  not  justify  them  in  error,  more  than  the  inebriate 
is  justified  in  the  use  of  his  intoxicating  cup.  He 
errs,  and  his  error  is  ruining  him ;  but  the  difficulty  is 
to  make  him  see  it,  and  inspire  him  with  zeal  enough 
to  cause  him  to  abandon  his  evil  course. 

We  are  truly  living  in  "  the  perilous  times  "  spoken 
of  by  Paul  to  Timothy,  in  which  men  are  "  ever  learn- 
ing, and  never  able  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth." 

But,  because  of  the  late  improvements  in  literature 
and  the  arts,  it  is  argued  that  the  intellect  of  man  is 
rapidly  advancing;  consequently,  he  is  better  able  to 
judge  of  the  things  of  religion  than  in  any  former  age. 
And,  to  keep  pace  with  the  rapid  march  of  intellect, 
the  religion  of  A.  J.  Davis  is  preferred  to  that  of  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  as  more  in  harmony  with  the  present 
state  of  progression.  Those  who  reason  thus  may 
think  they  are  using  the  most  profound  philosophy. 
And  to  prove  that  this  is  not  insanity  on  this  subject, 
we  are  referred  to  the  sanity  of  mind  exhibited  in 
mechanical  arts,  inventions,  and  improvements  of  the 
day.  But  such  seem  to  forget  that  the  wiser  a  man 
is,  the  greater  he  may  err.  It  is  true  that  great  minds 
are  capable  of  grasping  great  truths  ;  but  it  is  equally 


118  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

true,  that  they  are  also  capable  of  embracing  great 
error.  The  scholar  of  the  most  brilliant  intellect  who 
does  happen  to  err,  errs  as  much  more  egregiously 
than  a  dunce  as  his  intellect  is  greater.  So,  if  men 
are  wiser  now  than  formerly,  it  proves  that  they  are 
capable  of  erring  more  than  formerly.  For  human 
wisdom  alone  is  not  sufficient  to  shield  a  man  from 
the  hallucinating  influence  of  religious  error,  else  all 
great  and  wise  men  would  be  Christians.  But  the 
heathen  philosophers,  with  all  their  wisdom,  worshipped 
almost  every  thing  but  the  true  and  living  God.  In 
no  age  has  the  wisdom  of  man  kept  him  from  religious 
error.  Neither  is  it  a  fact,  that  the  most  ignorant 
have  erred  the  most  in  this  respect.  Why,  then,  should 
the  wisdom  of  this  age  keep  it  from  the  same  error? 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind,  that,  with  all  the  dis- 
coveries man  has  ever  made,  and  in  all  he  has  ever 
learned,  he  has  not  yet  arrived  at  one  principle  of 
nature  that  did  not  exist  from  the  beginning.  Then, 
by  parity  of  reasoning,  and  in  perfect  harmony  with 
tbe  present  rapid  march  of  intellect,  there  is  no  new 
principle  of  religion  that  did  not  exist  from  the  begin- 
ning in  the  eternal  purpose  of  God.  And  it  follows 
that  the  religion  said  to  be  revealed  by  the  spirits  of 
the  dead  is  false,  or  that  revealed  by  Jesus  Christ  is; 
for  one  contains  principles  diametrically  opposed  to 
the  other;  and  both  could  not  exist  from  the  begin- 
ning. And  if  a  man  believes  the  latter  is  false,  he 
gives  evidence  to  the  world  that  he  labors  under  a 
religious  monomania,  though  his  mind  may  be  gigan- 
tic, and  sane  enough  in  other  respects  to  determine 
the  elements  of  the  orbits  of  the  distant  comets,  and 
calculate  their  return;  convert  water  into  fuel;  navi- 
gate the  atmosphere  ;  and  invent  the  long-sought 
"perpetual  motion." 


OPPOSITION    LINE. 


119 


We  here  introduce  an  extract  from  the  lectures  of 
Mr.  William  E.  Blakeney,  refuting  the  position  some 
are  taking,  that  these  things  are  not  of  the  devil,  be- 
cause there  is  good  in  them  :  — 

"  We  have  already  admitted  the  power  of  mesmer- 
ism to  the  treatment  of  diseases.  Hence,  say  they,  it 
does  good;  and  as  Satan  has  not  the  disposition  to 
effect  the  '  good  '  of  mankind,  this  power  is  not  from 
him. 

"  And  farther,  they  argue  that  his  '  satanic  majes- 
ty '  was  never  known   to  do  good.     Now,  I  wish  to 
call  your  attention  to  a  few  thoughts  on  the  term  good, 
as  connected  with  this  prominent  and  only  argument. 
"First:  God  is  the  Author  of  all  good,  for  in  him 
'we  live,  move,  and  have  our  being.'     Hence,  to  the 
successful  attainment  of  any  philanthropic  object,  the 
Christian  relies  on  the  interposition  of  a  divine  Provi- 
dence,  and    the   special    cooperation   of   his    aid.     A 
man's  general  conduct  may  be  such  as  to  call  for  the 
severe  chastisement  of  the  law,  and  the  reproach  of  all 
his  J ellow -citizens,  and,  at  the  same  time,  there  may 
be   periods    in   the   history  of   his    life  when   he  was 
known    to    benefit    others ;    for   he    did    them    good. 
HeiKje    a    person,    under   the    garb    of  religion,   may 
assume  a  dignified  character ;    he   may  manifest  an 
ardent  zeal  for  the  best  interest  of  his  fellow-man,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  have  a  malevolent  desire  at  heart. 
You  may  trace  the  outlines  or  general  character  of 
^  Satan's   history,  from  the  time  he  tempted  our  first 
.  parents  up  to  the  time  he  placed  Christ  on  the  pinna- 
.  cle  of  the  temple,  and  you  will  find  that,  under  all  of 
1  his   peculiar  administrations,  under   all   the   peculiar 
.  features   he  has  assumed,  —  every  temptation,  every 
It  suggestion,  every  action,  —  he  aims  to  promote  the 


120  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

apparent  good  of  his  victim.  ^  Partake  of  this  fruit  in 
countcrdistinction  to  the  command  of  the  Eternal, 
and  thou  shalt  become  as  gods,  knowing  good  from 
evil.  Eat  of  this  tree  of  the  garden,  and  your  eyes 
shall  be  opened,'  was  his  infatuating  address  to  our 
first  parents. 

"  Again :  there  are  certain  advantages,  certain  po- 
sitions, which,  if  gained,  facilitate  his  operations  much. 

"  Now,  it  is  well  known  that  the  success  of  a  battle 
not  only  depends  on  tlie  skill  ol"  the  general  and  the 
subordinate  ofTicers,  but  also  upon  the  position  the 
army  occupies.  And  hence  his  '  majesty,'  for  the  more 
successful  triutnph  of  his  '  arms,'  selects  not  only  well- 
disciplined  officers,  but  also  as  favorable  a  position  as 
possible.  But  not  only  are  good  officers  and  a  good 
position  necessary  for  the  successful  attack  of  an 
enemy  or  a  foe,  but  a  great  deal  depends  on  having 
the  minds  of  the  privates  impressed  with  the  justice 
of  their  cause.  Hence,  as  an  incentive  to  persever- 
ance, the  commanding  general,  while  addressing  his 
soldiers,  presents  to  their  minds  the  sacred  character 
of  the  cause  they  have  so  nobly  pledged  themselves  to 
sustain,  by  referring  to  the  everlasting  interests  at 
stake.  Their  firesides,  their  altars,  their  children,  the 
institutions  of  their  beloved  country,  and  every  thing 
they  hold  most  sacred  and  dear.  Now,  this  is  precise- 
ly the  plan  adopted  by  the  enemy  of  man  for  the  I 
attainment  of  his  object.  First,  his  strong  positionH 
is  in  the  Church.  Here  he  wields  a  powerful  and' 
decided  influence.  First,  by  introducing  error  into 
her  creeds,  and  giving  it  the  appearance  of  something 
useful  and  worthy  of  respect. 

'*  It  is  here  that  he  transforms  himself  into  an  '  angel 
of  light,'  converts  the  ministers  over  to  his  principles, 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  121 

and  through  them  appeals  to  the  members  for  a  per- 
petuation of  those  principles. 

"  For  a  remarkable  proof  of  this  position,  I  cannot 
forbear  relating  some  of  the  extraordinary  develop- 
ments of  mesmerism  in  the  great  '  Kentucky  revival  * 
of  1802. 

"  Having  already  noticed  the  difference  between  the 
phenomena  of  'animal  excitement'  and  that  resulting 
from  a  religious  one,  —  with  the  indubitable  test  by 
which  you  may  detect  the  one  from  the  other,  —  we 
shall  introduce  the  subject  of  the  '  revival '  without 
any  introductory  remarks. 

"  We  would  observe,  however,  that,  previous  to  its 
introduction,  the  different  churches  throughout  the 
state  simultaneously  complained  of  the  '  great  spirit- 
ual dearth '  which  seemed  to  prevail.  Deism  had 
already  reared  its  deformed  head,  and  began  to  spread 
like  wildfire  in  the  different  towns  and  villages,  until 
a  crisis  had  evidently  arrived.  An  effort  to  introduce 
a  higher  state  of  religious  feeling  was  put  forth  in  the 
county  of  Madison,  (upper  part  of  Kentucky,)  in  the 
spring  of  1801,  by  a  few  ministers  of  the  gospel. 
Meetings  were  soon  well  attended,  and  signs  of  a  high 
state  of  religious  feeling  were  evidently  developed. 

"  The  altar  was  soon  crowded  with  '  anxious  souls,' 
who,  after  loudly  bewailing  their  sins,  would  swoon 
away,  and  lay  apparently  lifeless  for  a  long  time,  when 
suddenly  a  burst  of  ecstasy  would  issue  from  their 
lips,  foWowed  by  long  and  powerful  appeals  to  the 
congregation  in  behalf  of  the  religion  of  Christ.  The 
excitement  increased,  which  drew  multitudes  out  to 
witness  its  wonders.  And,  strange  as  it  may  appear, 
children  who  could  hardly  speak  audibly,  when  in- 
fluenced by  this  infection,  and  after  a  state  of  apparent 
11 


122  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

lifelessness  for  some  time,  would  revive,  and,  with  an 
eloquence  which  would  defy  competition,  warn  the 
multitude  to  escape  the  wrath  to  come. 

"  The  meetings  frequently  continued  during  the 
whole  night,  when  scenes  of  consternation  and  horror, 
which  would  beggar  description,  followed.  Some 
trembled,  like  one  in  a  fit  of  the  ague.  Others,  with- 
out respect  to  time  or  order,  were  praying  loudly  for 
their  relatives,  while  hundreds  lay  prostrate  on  the 
floor.  The  influences,  like  electricity,  spread,  when  it 
was  found  necessary  to  encamp  on  the  ground,  and  to 
continue  the  meetings  day  and  night.  To  this  en- 
campment the  people  flocked  in  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands. There  were  also  meetings  held  in  Caneridge, 
Bourbon  county,  where  it  was  estimated  that  twenty 
thousand  people,  from  different  quarters,  collected  on 
the  ground  at  once.  Here,  also,  the  exercises  were 
indescribable. 

"  Rev.  James  Crawford,  one  of  the  oldest  ministers 
of  the  state,  after  keeping  as  accurate  account  as 
possible,  computed  the  number  who  fell  on  the  occa- 
sion at  about  three  thousand.  Men  came  breathing 
severe  threatenings  against  the  work,  and  were  fre- 
quently struck  down  while  uttering  horrid  oaths. 
Others,  to  escape  the  infection,  mounted  their  horses, 
and,  with  quick  pace,  rode  off";  but  before  advancing 
far  would  be  precipitated  to  the  ground,  and  thus  lay 
as  dead  men  until  revived.  Some  writers,  in  de- 
scribing the  scene,  have  remarked  that  they  would 
fall  like  men  shot  on  the  field  of  battle. 

"  But  the  work  was  not  confined  to  the  State  of 
Kentucky.  It  broke  out  in  Ohio  and  North  Carolina, 
where  the  influences  resembled  those  experienced  in 
Kentucky. 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  123 

^'  Without  consuming  time  and  space  with  a  further 
description  of  the  phenomena,  as  witnessed  in  these 
places,  we  shall  proceed  to  notice  some  of  the  most 
distinguishing  traits  which  characterized  the  leaders 
of  this  '  new  theology.' 

"  First :  They  professed  a  new  and  distinct  rev- 
elation — '  a  new  light.'  All  distinguishing  names 
were  laid  aside  ;  and  persons,  without  respect  to  age, 
sex,  or  color,  were  allowed  to  officiate  as  the  light  in 
them  might  suggest.  They  also  professed  the  power 
of  '  exorcism,'  casting  out  of  evil  spirits,  and  of  per- 
forming other  astonishing  miracles,  such  as  were 
performed  in  the  days  of  Christ  and  the  apostles. 
They  also  professed  perfection,  and  supposed  them- 
selves to  be  '  entirely  free  from  sin,  dead  to  the  world, 
and  risen  with  Christ.' 

"  Now,  the  peculiar  circumstances  under  which  this 
revival  commenced,  its  unexplained  progress,  together 
with  the  extraordinary  influences  attending  it,  fixes 
our  conclusion  irresistibly,  viz.,  that  it  was  not  of 
God.  Look  at  the  influence  exerted  on  children.  The 
great  strength  imparted  to  them,  both  physically  and 
mentally,  as  in  the  clairvoyants  of  mesmerism ;  also, 
at  the  controlling  power  as  exerted  on  the  great  num- 
bers whp  were  struck  down  while  engaged  in  the  act 
of  blasphemy  —  their  limbs  being  paralyzed,  as  in 
mesmerism,  while  the  general  appearance  of  the  body 
bore  all  the  marks  as  witnessed  in  the  'phenomena 
of  mesmerism  '  now. 

"  Another  evidence  that  the  influence  was  mesmer- 
ism, is  the  remarkable  manner  in  which  their  leading 
men  would  be  handled  while  in  meetings,  and  some- 
times along  the  street — twitching  and  jerking,  roll- 
ing and  barking,  in  imitation  of  the  dog.     (See  quo- 


124  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

tation  in  '  Thoughts  on   Mesmerism,'  No.  3,  from  La 
Roy  Sunderland's  work  on  '  Pathetism.') 

"  Now,  as  history,  philosophy,  and  revelation  teach 
of  but  two  predominating  powers,  —  the  one  from 
heaven,  and  the  other  satanic,  —  we  are  bound  to  as- 
cribe these  influences  to  the  one  or  the  other.  That 
they  were  not  of  God,  is  evident  from  the  indubitable 
text,  as  given  in  the  Scriptures:  '  A  tree  is  known  by 
its  fruits ; '  and  that  they  were  mesmeric,  is  also 
evident  from  the  perfect  parallel  of  the  phenomena, 
as  in  mesmerism*,  and  also  from  the  excitement  which 
follows  the  exhibition  of  said  phenomena.  It  is  well 
known  that  whole  cities,  towns,  and  villages  have 
been  thrown  into  one  grand  scene  of  confusion,  and 
almost  paroxysm,  from  the  exhibitions  of  this  myste- 
rious power.  Some,  doubting  their  senses,  would 
denounce  the  experiments  as  human  'impositions,' 
or  '  humbuggery.'  Others,  attributing  tlie  power  to  a 
'  diabolical  source,'  would  denounce  its  agents  and 
lecturers  as  being  'leagued  with  the  devil;'  while 
another  class  supposed  it  to  be  the  result  of  a  '  science 
but  partially  understood.'  Its  first  introduction  into 
the  United  States  was  marked  particularly  with  these 
conjectures ;  and  in  whatever  place  the  phenomena 
were  successfully  exhibited,  multitudes  have,  turned 
out  to  witness  them.  Men  have  frequently  been 
known  to  neglect  their  business,  and  become  bank- 
rupts, by  the  infatuation  ;  while  females  have  dis- 
missed their  domestic  duties,  to  take  a  peep  into  the 
mysteries  of  this  mysterious  power.  Indeed,  the  ex- 
citement has  carried  with  it  whole  villages,  so  that,  in 
the  language  of  inspired  testimony,  they  have  ac- 
knowledged, from  the  least  to  the  greatest,  that  this 
is  the  great  power  of  God. 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  125 

"  Hence  the  deception  and  the  character  under 
which  it  was  imposed.  Now,  as  in  the  Kentucky 
revival,  Satan  imitated  the  influences  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  to  more  successfully  deceive  mankind, 
so,  in  the  phenomena  of  mesmerism,  its  resem- 
blance of  the  '  great  power  of  God,'  developed 
through  its  assumed  ability  and  disposition  to  do 
good. 

"  In  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  chapter  eight,  we 
have  another  demonstration  of  this  power,  as  exhib- 
ited by  '  Simon,'  the  '  sorcerer,'  who  gave  himself  out 
to  '  be  some  great  one  ; '  and  it  (the  phenomenon  as  in 
mesmerism)  is  the  great  power  of  God." 

In  this  account  it  is  not  difficult  to  recognize  mes- 
meric phenomena.  The  reader  will  recollect  what 
has  been  said  in  this  work  (pp.  58,  59)  concerning 
the  difference  of  the  phenomena  exhibited  by  the  sub- 
jects of  different  mesmerizers ;  and  the  reason  as- 
signed was,  they  expected  different  results,  each  op- 
erator thinking  beforehand  his  subjects  would  be  like 
those  he  had  seen  or  heard  of.  In  the  above  quota- 
tion, the  writer  says,  "  But  the  work  was  not  con- 
fined to  the  State  of  Kentucky.  It  broke  out  in  Ohio 
and  North  Carolina,  where  the  influences  resembled 
those  experienced  in  Kentucky."  Undoubtedly,  those 
who  got  up  the  revival  in  Ohio  and  Carolina  had 
been  to  the  Kentucky  revival,  from  which  they  took  a 
pattern  of  the  work.  But  before  it  commenced  in 
these  places,  the  people  must  have  heard  of  the  in- 
fluence attending  the  Kentucky  meeting,  which  would 
also  account  for  the  similarity.  But  one  thing  is 
generally  true,  with  some  exceptions  —  converts  made 
at  such  revivals  need  converting  again,  often  in  a 
short  time. 

11* 


1'96  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

If  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  its  operation  on  the  mind,  is 
productive  of  true  religion,  there  must  be  an  opposite 
spirit  operating  on  it  to  produce  a  counterfeit.  Such 
ia  spirit  does  exist,  and  has  power  to  deceive,  but 
none  to  compel,  those  who  resist  it.  It  is  singular 
that  such  a  spirit  should  be  denied  physical  power  by 
those  who  grant  that  the  spirits  of  the  dead  possess 
it.  They  say  the  devil  cannot  tip  tables ;  but  the 
spirits  of  the  dead  can  and  do.  The  pith  of  their 
argument  seems  to  be  this :  A  living  devil  cannot,  by 
unseen  hands,  move  a  table ;  but  a  dead  one  can. 
Now,  if  tables  really  move  in  these  experiments,  it 
proves  the  devil  exerts  a  physical  power;  if  they  do 
not,  it  proves,  like  other  mesmeric  wonders,  a  hallu- 
cination of  mind.  Notwithstanding  the  thousands 
of  witnesses  who  are  ready  to  testify  to  their  loco- 
motion, it  yet  remains  to  be  proved  that  their  motion 
is  real,  and  not  apparent. 

The  attention  hitherto  called  to  this  subject  has 
been  chiefly  directed  to  detect  some  jugglery  in  the 
affair.  Hereafter  it  will  probably  come  to  light  that 
they  do  not  move  only  in  the  imagination  of  the 
beholders,  as  it  is  admitted  that  all  present  must  be  in 
harmony;  that  is  to  say,  be  drawn  into  the  hallu- 
cination ;  and  in  this  case,  they  might  appear  to 
move,  whether  they  do  or  not.  The  thing  needs 
further  testing,  particularly  on  this  point.  (See  chap- 
ter X.,  "  table  tipping.") 

But,  says  one,  it  is  not  possible  that  so  many 
thousands  of  intelligent  people  are  so  grossly  deceived. 
But  we  ask,  Which  is  the  more  probable  —  that  the 
whole  world  should  be  deceived,  or  that  nature  should 
err  or  deviate  from  her  wonted  course  ?  For  she 
either  does  so  deviate,  or  these  things  are  imagin^iry. 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  127 

Again  :  it  may  be  said  no  one  has  a  right  to  say 
these  things  are  contrary  to  the  laws  of  nature  till  he 
gives  evidence  that  he  is  acquainted  with  all  her 
laws.  Then  our  opponents  have  no  right  to  say  they 
are  done  by  a  law  of  nature  until  they  show  by  lohat 
law  it  is.  This  they  have  not  done,  but  failed  in 
every  attempt.  To  say  it  is  electricity,  amounts  to 
nothing,  until  it  is  proved  to  be  so.  In  the  table-tip- 
ping experiment,  we  acknowledge  a  law  of  nature, 
acting  on  the  mind,  but  not  on  the  table ;  for  we  have 
shown  that  similar  wonders  have  been  witnessed  by  a 
law  of  aberration  of  mind  :  now,  let  our  opponents 
show  a  similar  law  of  aberration  of  matter. 

Again :  we  prove  our  position  by  numerous  prece- 
dents drawn  from  nature  at  work  in  her  own  unin- 
duced  way.  This  our  opponents  have  not  done. 
Strange  things  are  done,  either  apparently  or  really. 
They  say  they  are  really  done  by  the  spirits  of  the 
dead  ;  as  well  might  they  say  it  is  by  the  heathen 
gods.  We  deny  the  fact ;  and,  until  it  is  proved,  shall 
hold  it  self-evident,  that  the  only  ghosts  which  have 
ever  been  raised  by  modern  mediums  are  the  ghosts 
of  ancient  \vitchcraft  and  sorcery. 

Between  mind  and  matter  there  is  no  connecting 
link  beyond  that  of  the  living,  organized,  animal 
body.  And  what  that  link  is,  we  may  know  when 
we  know  what  life  is,  and  not  before.  How  the 
mind  of  Deity  acts  on  matter,  is  another  thing.  We 
do  not  profess  wisdom  enough  to  scan  the  Almighty. 
But  we  demand  proof  that  there  is  any  connection 
between  the  mind  of  man  and  inanimate  matter,  or 
that  there  is  one  between  the  living  and  the  dead, 
either  between  their  bodies  or  minds.  There  cannot 
be  one,  unless   there   are   two    Gods ;  for   the  great 


128  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

Teacher  has  declared  that  the  one  God  is  not  the 
God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living.  This  completely 
dissolves  the  link  between  the  living  and  the  dead, 
until  the  resurrection,  as  shown  to  Moses  at  the  bush, 
when  the  dead  will  live  again,  and  God  will  be  their 
God. 

But  if  the  spirits  of  the  dead  manifest  themselves 
to  the  living,  God  is  their  God,  and  they  are  not 
dead ;  which  is  the  climax  of  absurdity.  If  we  say 
God  is  the  God  of  the  spirits  of  dead  bodies,  then 
there  is  no  class  of  men,  dead  or  alive,  which  he  is 
not  the  God  of;  for  he  mast  be  the  God  of  the  spirits 
of  living  men,  to  be  the  God  of  the  living ;  else  liv- 
ing men  have  not  living  spirits.  But  there  is  a  class 
of  men  he  is  not  the  God  of ;  and  who  are  they  ?  If 
we  say  they  are  the  bodies  of  dead  men,  we  virtually 
say  he  is  not  the  God  of  dead  matter,  and  could  not 
have  made  man  of  the  dust;  and  the  material  uni- 
verse is  without  a  God  to  govern  it. 

But  as  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the 
living,  there  must  be  one  class  which  cannot  manifest 
itself  to  the  living ;  and  this  must  be  the  dead,  or 
there  is  no  class  that  are  dead.  Then,  of  all  decep- 
tions and  mental  hallucinations  ever  played  off  upon 
man  by  mesmerism,  death  is  the  greatest. 

Man  is  truly  a  strange  creature.  He  believes  that 
spirits  of  the  dead  rap  on  tables,  because  it  appears 
so  to  his  senses;  but  senses  or  no  senses,  he  does  not 
believe  that  dead  men  are  dead  and  cannot  rap. 
This  is  straining  at  a  gnat  and  swallowing  a  camel. 
Why  is  not  the  evidence  of  the  senses  proof  in  one 
case  as  well  as  in  the  other  ? 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  129 


CHAPTER     IX. 

THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  THEORY  OF  MESMERISM  CON- 
SIDERED. —  AN  IMPROVED  MODE  OF  GOING  TO 
HEAYEN. 

This  theory,  in  its  principal  features,  does  not  differ 
materially  from  the  electro-magnetic  theory  already 
considered.  It  is,  apparently,  less  clear  and  philo- 
sophical, and  is,  therefore,  less  liable  to  be  generally 
received  and  to  do  injury.  It  will  only  be  necessary, 
therefore,  to  give  it  a  passing  notice,  as  it  is  not  my 
object  to  refute  a  theory  merely  for  the  sake  of  refu- 
tation. 

I  shall  speak  of  it  as  I  find  it  taught  by  Dr.  Had- 
dock, an  English  writer,  in  his  "  Psychology,  or  the 
Science  of  the  Soul."  On  page  10  he  says,  "  Met- 
aphysicians have  studied  mind,  irrespective  of  form 
or  matter ;  and  some  philosophers  would  resolve  all 
things  into  material  operation,  irrespective  of  mind. 
I  believe  that  fact  and  demonstrative  evidence  will 
prove  both  classes  of  philosophers  to  be  wrong.  From 
divine  revelation  we  know  that  there  is  both  spirit, 
or  mind  and  matter  —  both  a  spiritual  body  and  a 
natural  body.  These  cardinal  truths  will  be  found  to 
lie  at  the  bottom  of  all  mesmeric  experience  ;  and 
from  that  experience,  the  a  priori  statements  of  the 
Scriptures  will  be  abundantly  confirmed." 

According  to  this  theory,  then,  mesmerism  rests  on 
the  two  great  pillars  — -  mind  and  matter  ;  a  spiritual 
body  and  a  natural  body.  Now,  if  we  can  find  out 
what  a  spiritual  body  is,  and  what  a  natural  body  is, 


130  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

we  shall  find  out  what  lies   at  the  bottom  of  mes- 
merism. 

Again  :  on  pp.  45  and  6  he  says,  "  I  have  reason 
to  believe,  as  I  shall  point  out  in  the  sequel,  that 
mind  is  the  grand  agent  in  all  really  mesmeric  phe- 
nomena, and  the  manipulations  are  merely  so  many 
means  of  fixing  mental  action."  The  lever  in  this 
theory,  therefore,  is  the  mind,  the  same  as  .in  the 
electro  theory.  Again  :  on  pp.  63  and  4,  we  find  the 
following  :  "  It  is  usual  to  represent  man  as  composed 
of  mind  and  matter — soul  and  body.  This  is  cor- 
rect. And  as  we  find  the  body  is  not  a  simple,  un- 
compounded  substance,  but  a  collection  of  innumer- 
able parts  and  organs,  so,  by  parity  of  reasoning, 
we  may  conclude  that  the  mind  or  spiritual,  as  the 
parent  and  director  of  the  natural  body,  cannot  be 
that  simple  entity,  that  abstract  nothing-ness,  so  gen- 
erally represented  by  metaphysical  writers  ;  but  rather 
that  the  controller  of  the  animal  organism  must  be 
itself  organized  according  to  the  laws  of  its  own 
peculiar  nature,  and  capable  of  manifesting  those 
laws,  under  certain  circumstances,  through  those  or- 
gans of  the  body ;  that  is,  of  the  brain  and  nervous 
system,  which  are  united  with  it  by  the  laws  of  cor- 
respondent activity  and  connection.  St.  Paul,  there- 
fore, spoke  the  language  of  the  profoundest  philos- 
ophy, when  he  declared  that  there  were  spiritual 
bodies  and  natural  bodies,  and  that  the  natural  body 
was  the  first  in  its  development,  and  afterivards  the 
spiritual  body ;  and  when,  on  another  occasion,  he 
defended  the  entire  human  organism,  as  existing  here, 
to  be  a  compound  of  '  spirit,  soul,  and  body  '  —  in 
this  respect,  giving  his  apostolic  sanction  to  the  doc- 
trine of  the  ancient  sages  of  Greece." 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  131 

Now,  there  is  a  doubt  in  my  mind  whether  Paul 
spoke  the  profoundest  philosophy  of  mesmerism,  or 
some  philosophy  of  a  much  higher  grade.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  he  did  not  speak  the  philosophy  of  the 
ancient  sages  of  Greece.  If  he  did,  he  did  not  speak 
the  philosophy  of  his  heavenly  Master ;  for  he  spake 
on  this  subject  "  as  never  man  spake."  This  could 
not  have  been  said  of  him  had  he  spoken  the  doc- 
trine of  the  ancient  sages  of  Greece.  Our  author, 
therefore,  must  misunderstand  Paul's  language.  We 
will  examine  it  more  closely,  and  see  if  Paul  taught 
the  organization  of  an  inner  man,  denominated  the 
spiritual  body.  Paul,  in  using  this  language,  does 
not  appear  to  be  giving  his  apostolic  sanction  to  the 
doctrine  of  heathen  sages  ;  but,  so  far  from  it,  he  was 
declaring  a  doctrine  which  the  heathen  knew  nothing 
of — the  resurrection  of  the  body.  See  1  Cor.  xv., 
beginning  at  verse  forty-two  :  "  So  also  in  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead..  It  is  sown  in  corruption,  it  is 
raised  in  incorruption ;  it  is  sown  in  dishonor,  it  is 
raised  in  glory ;  it  is  sown  in  weakness,  it  is  raised  in 
power ;  it  is  sown  a  natural  body,  it  is  raised  a  spir- 
itual body.  There  is  a  natural  body,  and  there  is  a 
spiritual  body."  The  reader  will  notice  that,  in  each 
of  the  above  cases,  the  same  it  was  raised  that  was 
sown.  "  It  was  sown  in  corruption,  it  (the  same  it) 
was  raised  in  incorruption,"  &c.  Again :  "  It  was 
sown  a  natural  body,  it  (the  same  it)  was  raised  a 
spiritual  body."  There  is  certainly  no  evidence  here 
of  two  organized  bodies ;  but  it  may  be  argued  that 
the  evidence  lies  in  the  affirmation,  "  There  is  a  nat- 
ural body,  and  there  is  a  spiritual  body."  But  Paul 
has  just  said  this  natural  body  is  sown  a  natural  body, 
but  is  raised  a  spiritual  body.     It  is  certainly  one  and 


1Z2  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

the  saaie  body  undergoing  a  change  in  being  sown 
and  raised.  The  first  change  alluded  to  by  the  apostle 
is  from  corruption  to  incorruption  :  "  It  is  sown  in 
corruption,  it  is  raised  in  incorruption."  The  next 
change  is  from  dishonor  to  honor,  and,  lastly,  from 
natural  to  spiritual.  It  still  may  be  asked,  "What  did 
Paul  mean  by  these  terms  —  natural  and  spiritual  ? 
Let  him  speak  for  himself:  "  Howbeit,  that  was  not 
first  which  is  spiritual,  but  that  which  is  natural,  and 
afterwards  that  which  is  spiritual."  The  only  con- 
clusion is,  the  body,  at  first,  is  a  natural  body  ;  but 
being  born  again  at  the  resurrection  of  eternal  life 
and  glory,  it  becomes  a  spiritual  body.  For  the 
apostle  adds,  "  The  first  man  is  of  the  earth,  earthy ; 
the  second  man  is  the  Lord  from  heaven.  As  is  the 
earthy,  such  are  they  also  that  are  earthy ;  and  as  is 
the  heavenly,  such  are  they  also  that  are  heavenly. 
And  as  we  have  borne  the  image  of  the  earthy,  we 
shall  also  bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly." 

Now,  the  natural  body  (the  natural  man)  first  bears 
the  image  of  the  first  man  earthy,  (in  other  words, 
wicked  ;)  but  when  he  bears  the  image  of  the  second 
man,  "  the  Lord  from  heaven,"  he  will  be  heavenly ; 
that  is,  holy.  And  this  image  the  righteous  will  bear 
in  the  resurrected  state.  They  will  not  then  be  nat- 
ural bodies,  that  is,  wicked,  but  holy,  or  spiritual.  So 
Paul's  language  does  not  imply  two  bodies  to  one 
individual,  unless  it  can  be  proved  that  the  true 
Christian  has  not  the  same  body  that  he  had  before 
he  became  a  Christian  and  while  a  sinner. 

But  many  people  make  a  very  singular  and  unwar- 
ranted use  of  the  word  spiritual,  as  though  it  had 
some  mystical  meaning.  But  it  is  not  so.  The  word 
is  an  adjective ;  and,  like  others  of  that  class,  is  used 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  133 

to  denote  some  property  or  quality  of  the  thing  it  is 
joined  to.  Paul  uses  the  word  in  the  above  texts  in 
the  same  sense  that  he  does  the  word  heavenly  and 
the  word  natural.,  in  the  same  sense  he  does  the  word 
earthy^  and  both  in  the  same  sense  he  does  first  man 
and  second  man.  He  also  uses  the  term  flesh  and 
hlood  in  the  same  sense  as  he  does  earthy.,  which  is 
nearly  that  of  carnal  nature,  in  the  common  accep- 
tation of  the  phrase. 

"  Now  this  I  say,  brethren,  that  flesh  and  blood 
cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God ;  neither  doth 
corruption  inherit  incorruption."  Here  flesh  and  blood 
evidently  means  carnal  nature  ;  otherwise  the  learned 
apostle  was  guilty  of  gross  tautology  ;  for  flesh  and 
blood,  in  the  literal  use  of  the  words  abstractedly,  is, 
verily,  corruption  itself.  But  when  he  says  corrup- 
tion doth  not  inherit  incorruption,  he  must  mean 
something  different  from  flesh  and  blood  ;  for  he  just 
told  us  that  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God. 
"  Behold,  I  show  you  a  mystery ;  we  shall  not  all 
sleep.,  but  we  shall  all  be  changed."  How  shall  we 
be  changed  ?  "  For  this  corruptible  must  put  on  in- 
corruption, and  this  mortal  must  put  on  immortality." 
That  is  as  he  said  before  :  "  It  is  sown  in  corrup- 
tion, it  is  raised  in  incorrup4;ion."  He  further  says, 
"  This  mortal  must  put  on  immortality."  Now,  flesh 
and  blood,  in  the  literal  sense  of  the  separate  words, 
are  both  mortal  and  corruptible —  the  very  thing  Paul 
says  must  be  changed,  but  still  be  flesh  and  blood  in 
the  literal  sense,  but  with  imperishable  qualities. 

That  this  is  the  use  of  the  term  flesh  and  blood,  is 

equally   certain   in    Matt.  xvi.   17.     Here   Christ  tells 

Peter  that  flesh  and  blood  had   not  revealed  to  him 

that  he  was  the   Christ,  the   son  of  the  living   God, 

12 


134  THE    SPIEITUAL    TELEORAPHIC 

"  but  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven ; "  that  is,  Peter's 
carnal  nature  did  not  reveal  this,  but  the  Spirit  of  the 
Father  did. 

So  it  is  evident  that  PauPs  language  touching  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead  cannot  consistently  be  so 
construed  as  to  imply  two  organized  bodies  to  one 
living  individual.  Where,  then,  are  those  "  cardinal 
truths  "  that  are  found  to  lie  at  the  bottom  of  scien- 
tific mesmerism  ?  They  cannot  be  found  in  the 
language  of  Paul,  the  only  place  we  have  been  di- 
rected to  look  for  them.  And  if  they  are  not  there, 
psychology  is  left  without  a  prop.  But  I  pass  to 
another  quotation. 

"  When  death  severs  the  connection  between  mind 
and  body,  the  ultimate  of  the  immortal  man  is  the 
psyche  or  animus,  and  to  it  is  transferred  all  conscious 
perceptions  and  sensations.  It  is  from  this  dispersing 
seat  of  conscious  perceptions  that,  in  our  ordinary 
state,  we  have  no  sensational  knowledge  of  the  spirit 
world  or  of  its  laws.  But  psycheism,  or  the  higher 
state  of  mesmerism,  may  aptly  be  compared  to  par- 
tial death  ;  for  it  is  a  closing  of  the  common  external 
of  our  being,  a  transfer  of  the  sensational  perceptions 
from  the  ultimate  of  the  body  to  the  ultimate  of  the 
spirit;  and  hence,  and  •  simply  from  this  transfer  of 
ultimates,  arises  an  awakening  of  the  conscious  sen- 
sational perception  of  the  inner  man  or  spirit.  All 
these  apparently  miraculous  powers,  which  we  some- 
times see  displayed  by  good  mesmeric  subjects,  are, 
in  fact,  but  the  result  of  the  psyche  or  animus  being 
so  far  set  free  from  the  bodily  ultimate  as  to  enable 
the  spiritual  body  to  act  nearly,  if  not  quite,  independ- 
ently of  the  sensual  organs,  and  by  perception,  and 
in  the  light  from  an  inner  world.     But  the  connection 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  135 

of  mind  and  body  is  yet  sufficient  to  enable  the  soul's 
sight  and  feeling  to  be  manifested  to  our  physical 
senses,  by  and  through  the  natural  organization  of  a 
clairvoyant." 

The  author  from  whom  we  make  the  above  quota- 
tion cannot,  after  all,  think  that  Paul's  philosophy 
was  very  profound.  Paul's  philosophy  is  —  "This 
mortal  must  put  on  immortality  ;  this  corruption  must 
put  on  incorruption  ; "  and  "  then  shall  be  brought  to 
pass  the  saying  that  is  written,  Death  is  sw^allowed 
up  in  victory.  O  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  O 
grave,  where  is  thy  victory  ?  The  sting  of  death  is 
sin,  and  the  strength  of  sin  is  the  law.  But  thanks 
be  to  God,  which  giveth  us  the  victory  through  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

But,  according  to  the  philosophy  of  psychology, 
"when  death  severs  the  connection  between  mind  and 
body,  the  ultimate  of  the  immortal  man  is  the  psyche," 
&c.  If  this  is  the  last  of  him,  he  certainly  cannot 
have  a  resurrection ;  and  the  saying  that  is  written, 
"  Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory,"  will  never  come 
to  pass.  Again :  according  to  Paul's  philosophy, 
"  the  sting  of  death  is  sin  ;  "  but,  according  to  the 
philosophy  of  psycheism,  the  sting  of  death  is  a  dis- 
solution of  the  connecting  link  between  mind  and 
body,  and  a  "  transfer  of  all  the  conscious  perceptions 
and  sensations "  to  the  former.  This,  finally,  is  no 
death  at  all ;  it  is  only  a  transfer  of  the  living  func- 
tions of  the  duplicate  man  to  the  unit,  or  inner  man, 
and  this  is  the  last  of  him  ;  that  is,  the  last  change 
he  undergoes.  But  Paul  says,  "  We  shall  all  be 
changed  in  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  at 
the  last  trump ;  for  the  trumpet  shall  sound,  and  the 
dead  shall  be  raised  incorruptible,  and   we  shall  be 


136  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

CHANGED."  But  in  the  psychological  philosophy,  there 
is  no  place  left  for  us  to  thank  God,  who  "  giveth 
us  the  victory  (over  death)  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ." 

Again  :  psycheism  represents  the  clairvoyant  state 
as  a  state  of  partial  death  ;  for  our  author  says  the 
phenomena  of  clairvoyance  are  "  the  result  of  the 
psyche  or  animus  being  so  far  set  free  from  the  bodily 
ultimate  as  to  enable  the  spiritual  body  to  act  nearly, 
if  not  quite,  independently  of  the  sensual  organs,  and 
by  perception,  and  in  light  from  an  inner  world." 

It  follows,  therefore,  as  clairvoyance  is  partial  death, 
total  or  perfect  death  must  be  a  state  of  perfect 
clairvoyance.  Indeed,  this  appears  conclusive,  as  we 
shall  show  hereafter. 

Then  Paul  was  still  more  unphilosophic ;  for  he 
says,  "  The  sting  of  death  is  sin  ;  and  the  strength 
of  sin  is  the  law."  To  have  been  psychologically 
philosophic,  he  should  have  said,  "  The  sting  of 
death  is  clairvoyance,  and  the  strength  of  clairvoy- 
ance is  mesmerism."  This  would  have  been  in  per- 
fect good  keeping  with  psychological  death.  Paul 
was  a  learned  man ;  and  if  he  knew  any  thing  about 
psychology,  he  certainly  meant  to  condemn  it ;  for 
the  fifteenth  chapter  of  his  first  letter  to  the  Corin- 
thians is    a  dead  shot,  to    psychological    philosophy. 

Perhaps  no  doctrine  ever  taught  has  met  with  more 
opposition  than  that  of  the  resurrection,  as  taught  by 
Christ  and  his  apostles.  Christ  preached  his  own 
death  and  resurrection,  and  Peter  rebuked  him  for  it. 
(Matt.  xvi.  21,  22.)  The  Jews  would  not  believe  it, 
even  after  the  watch  declared  that  Christ  had  actu- 
ally arisen  from  the  dead.  Paul  preached  it,  and  for 
so  doing  he  was  dragged  before  the  rulers,  and  ac' 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  187 

cused  of  being  a  pestilent  fellow.  (Acts  xxiii.  6 ; 
xxiv.  5.)  The  Sadducees  did  not  believe  it ;  and  if 
psychology  prevails,  nobody  will  believe  it  much 
longer.  It  is  impossible  to  reconcile  the  doctrine  of 
psychology  with  the  doctrine  which  Paul  taught  of  a 
resurrection.  So  if  divine  revelation  is  allowed  to 
weigh  any  thing  against  the  wisdom  of  men,  or, 
rather,  against  the  follies  of  men,  the  question  is  set- 
tled at  once,  without  further  argument,  and  the  doc- 
trine of  psychology  is  false.  "  Let  God  be  true,  but 
every  man  a  liar."     (Rom.  iii.  4.) 

It  is  very  singular,  in  my  opinion,  that  operators  in 
mesmerism  cannot  see  that,  according  to  their  own 
confessions,  they  give  evidence  that  no  theory  can  be 
proved  by  mesmeric  phenomena.  This  author,  as  we 
have  already  quoted,  says  "  that  the  mind  is  the  grand 
agent  in  all  really  mesmeric  phenomena."  Now, 
what  can  be  proved  by  all  mesmeric  phenomena? 
Why,  just  what  happens  to  be  in  the  mind  of  the 
operator  or  his  subject.  Yet  they  will  build  theories, 
one  electro-mesmeric,  and  another  nervo-vital ;  another 
magnetic,  another  galvanic,  and  another  a  psycho 
theory ;  yet  all  acknowledge  that  the  mind,  either 
alone  or  combined  with  some  agent,  is  the  primum 
mobile  of  the  whole  affair.  Now,  according  to  this 
admission,  what  is  the  foundation  of  all  these  mes- 
meric theories  ?  Why,  the  imagination  of  the  mind, 
and  this  only ;  and  is  virtually  admitted  by  these 
theorists  themselves. 

But  it  may  still  be  said,  this  does  not  explain  the 
mystery.  Very  true,  because  it  does  not  explain  the 
mystery  of  thinking. 

But  it  disproves  all  mesmeric  theory  ;  for,  as  soon 
as  we  admit  what  mesmerizers  admit,  that  is,  that 
12* 


138  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

mind  is  the  grand  agent  in  all  mesnieric  phenomena, 
and  if  mesmeric  phenomena  are  affected  by  the  laws 
of  nature,  then  every  phenomena  or  occurrence  in 
which  mind  is  concerned  would  be  an  effect  of  men- 
tal operation.  So  if  the  farmer  had  a  mind  to  have  a 
great  crop  of  corn,  he  would  have  it,  whether  he  used 
the  necessary  means  for  it  or  not ;  and  if  he  had  a 
mind  the  cattle  should  not  destroy  it,  there  would  be 
no  need  of  a  fence  around  it. 

But  it  so  happens  that  the  mind  of  man  alone,  in 
ordinary  cases,  has  no  effect,  only  as  it  moves  him  to 
action.  We  stand  around  the  death  bed  of  a  friend, 
and  the  effort  of  our  united  will  alone  does  not  ease 
one  pang,  or  prolong  the  life  of  the  sufferer  one  mo- 
ment. Now,  why  is  not  the  will  here  as  efficient  as 
in  mesmerism  ?  Here  the  will  is  often  called  into  its 
most  powerful  action,  yet  it  effects  nothing. 

That  psychology  makes  the  state  of  death  and  the 
perfect  clairvoyant  state,  or  extasis,  one  and  the 
same  thing,  may  be  seen  in  the  following  quotation 
from  "  The  Celestial  Telegraph,"  a  French  work,  by 
Cahagnet.  And  if  we  introduce  the  subject  somewhat 
abruptly,  the  reader  will  excuse  us.  We  will,  how- 
ever, briefly  notice  that  Cahagnet  appears  to  have  two 
clairvoyants  or  mediums  on  hand  —  Bruno  and  Adele. 
We  commence  with  a  conversation  between  the  oper- 
ator and  Adele :  — 

"  Once  more,  allow  me  to  make  an  observation  on 
the  last  sitting.  My  reason  for  doubting  that  your 
soul  was  out  of  your  body  is,  that  scarcely  have  I 
spoken  than  you  answer  me ;  and  I  do  not  perceive 
your  body  making  any  movement  when  you  say  that 
you  are  receiving  the  caresses  of  your  relatives. 

"  It  is,  however,  this  want  of  movement  in  my  body 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  139 

in  my  grand,  ecstatic  movements,  which  ought  to 
prove  to  you  that  I  am  no  longer  in  it :  when  my  rela- 
tives, on  the  contrary,  come  on  earth  to  see  me,  you 
perceive  my  spiritual  pressing  theirs,  my  body  gesti- 
culating, because  they  are  really  there  present,  and  I 
also  ;  but  when  I  am  in  heaven,  my  body  can  no 
longer  make  the  same  gestures,  since  there  is  no  longer 
a  soul  within  it.  If  I  answer  you  immediately,  it  is 
because  I  still  cling  to  my  body  by  sympathetic 
threads,  which  you  seem  to  me  to  hold  like  cords,  forcing 
me,  when  you  draw  them,  to  descend  to  the  power  of 
your  will. 

"  I  perceive  that  Adele  purposes  entering  into  the 
ecstatic  state.  I  make  up  my  mind  to  try  a  decisive 
experiment,  and  leave  her  to  her  will.  I  forthwith 
send  Bruno  to  sleep,  put  him  en  rapport  with  her, 
and  beg  him  to  follow  her  as  far  as  possible;  recom- 
mending him  not  to  be  alarmed,  and  to  warn  me  only 
if  he  should  see  danger.  I  wished  to  be  assured  by 
myself  of  the  pretended  dangers  of  ecstasy.  Frequent- 
ly had  Adele  told  me  that  she  had  been  on  the  point 
of  not  coming  back  to  reenter  her  body ;  and  as  I 
thought  she  only  wanted  to  alarm  me,  I  wished  to 
know  what  opinion  to  come  to.  At  the  lapse  of  a 
quarter  of  an  hour,  Bruno  exclaims,  in  great  alarm, 
'  I  have  lost  sight  of  her ! ' 

"  I  had  relied  upon  him,  and  paid  but  little  attention 
to  Adele,  whose  body,  in  the  mean  time,  had  grown 
icy  cold  :  there  was  no  longer  any  pulse  or  respiration  : 
her  face  was  of  a  sallow  green,  her  lips  blue,  her  heart 
gave  no  sign  of  life.  I  placed  before  her  lips  a  mirror, 
but  it  was  by  no  means  tarnished  by  them.  I  magnet- 
ized her  powerfully,  in  order  to  bring  back  her  soul 
into  her  body ;  but  for  five  minutes  my  labor  was  vain. 


140  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

Bruno,  alarmed  at  my  want  of  success,  as  well  as  the 
persons  present  at  this  sitting,  tended  greatly  to  dis- 
turb me.  I  thought  for  a  moment  that  the  work  was 
consummated,  and  that  I  had  an  indubitable  proof 
that  the  soul  had  departed  from  her  body. 

''  I  was  obliged  to  request  the  persons  present  to  pass 
into  another  room,  in  order  that  I  might  recover  by 
myself  a  little  energy.  At  the  lapse  of  a  few  moments 
I  entertained  the  hope  that  I  should  not  have  such  a 
misfortune  to  deplore ;  but,  physically  speaking,  I  was 
utterly  powerless.  Falling  on  my  knees,  I  asked  back 
of  God,  in  my  prayer,  the  soul  that  I  had,  in  my 
doubts,  suffered  to  depart.  I  seemed,  by  an  effect  of 
intuition,  to  know  that  my  prayer  was  heard.  After 
a  minute's  further  anguish,  I  obtained  these  words : 
'  Why  have  you  called  me  back  ?  It  was  all  over 
with  me ;  but  God,  moved  at  your  prayer,  sent  me 
back  to  you.  No  more  shall  I  be  permitted  to  return 
to  heaven  ;  I  am  punished.'  '  Of  what  punishment 
do  you  speak  ?  '  '  Raphael  has  forbidden  my  mother 
and  all  my  relations,  except  Alphonse,  to  come  and 
see  me  again  until  further  orders ;  and  it  is  to  you 
that  I  am  indebted  for  this  privation.  I  shall  no 
longer  be  able  to  ascend  to  heaven ;  but  had  it  not 
been  for  you,  I  should  have  been  there  now  and  for- 
ever.' 

"  It  may  be  naturally  supposed  that  I  paid  but  little 
attention  to  her  complaints  and  reproaches.  I  was 
only  too  happy  to  hear  her  speak  to  me ;  and  promised 
myself,  as  my  readers  may  imagine,  never  to  recom- 
mence such  experiments.  I  advise  those  who  should 
be  so  disposed  to  imitate  me  never  to  make  such  a 
trial,  for  no  spectacle  can  be  more  alarming;  and  the 
issue  of  such  experiments  might  terminate  fatally. 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  141 

"  It  was  all  over  with  her  ecstasies,  just  as  she  had 
predicted  ;  no  one  came  any  more  to  see  her.  Her 
brother  often  instructed  her  in  what  was  agreeable  to 
her ;  but  the  self-will  of  Adele,  and  her  little  regard 
for  his  complaisance,  drove  him  away.  It  was  more 
than  six  months  before  she  recovered  this  kind  of 
clairvoyance.  I  was  not  sorry  for  it,  as  I  was  deter- 
mined not  to  magnetize  her  again.  There  was  a  con- 
tinual combat  of  subtlety  between  us  two.  If  I  lost 
sight  of  her  for  an  instant,  she  had  ever  the  same 
intention  —  suicide  in  ecstasy  ! 

"  Several  times  since  she  sought  to  reenter  this 
state,  but  she  invariably  felt  a  hand  which  pushed  her 
head  forward ;  sometimes  she  heard  boisterous  music, 
which  diverted  her  from  her  purpose;  and  once  a 
voice  exclaimed  in  her  ear,  '  That  is  forbidden  you.' 
It  w^as  her  brother  Alphonse  who  worked  all  these 
miracles.  He  never  came  to  see  her  without  diverting 
her  by  an  air  on  a  flute,  although  before  his  death  he 
knew  not  how  to  play  that  instrument ;  he  often  ren- 
dered perceptible  to  her  a  divine  music,  which  she 
could  hear,  though  wide  awake,  by  a  secret  she  had 
taught  me  to  employ  to  this  effect.  She  equally  saw 
all  her  relations  after  she  awoke  —  a  circumstance  that 
excited  her  astonishment,  and  made  her  believe  in 
magic.  She  could  not  comprehend,  be  it  understood, 
these  kinds  of  visions,  which  made  me  pass  in  her 
eyes  for  a  sorcerer.  We  are  bound  to  conclude  from 
all  these  experiments,  which  lasted  whole  months,  and 
which  I  compress  into  one  sitting,  that  it  would  be 
more  than  ridiculous  that  a  woman  so  firm  should  not 
perceive  at  will  the  freaks  of  her  imagination,  if  such 
they  were ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  all  these  facts 
presented  such  a  variety,  only  the  better  to  dispose 
me  to  believe  in  their  merits." 


142  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

From  the  above  account  it  is  certain  that  the  per- 
fect state  of  mesmeric  ecstasy  is  death,  protracted  at 
the  will  of  the  operator.  But,  in  the  case  just  related, 
the  operator  gave  his  subject  up  to  the  care  of  another, 
Bruno.  But  the  w^ily  Adele  so  managed  as  to  give 
him  the  slip,  and  put  off,  like  a  colt  untied,  so  far  into 
th»  regions  of  celestial  bliss  as  to  bid  defiance  to  the 
electric  flight  of  mesmeric  power  to  overtake  her,  or 
drag  her  back  to  her  frail  body,  the-ultimate  of  which 
she  left  in  the  hands  of  her  astonished  operator,  as  a 
sure  demonstration  of  the  identity  of  the  states  of 
death  and  clairvoyance.  But  it  appears  that  in 
Adele's  resurrection  no  credit  is  due  to  mesmerism. 
Cahagnet,  her  operator,  exhausted  the  powers  of  mes- 
merism upon  her  corpse  to  no  purpose.  He  then  tried 
the  efficacy  of  prayer  to  God  for  the  return  of  that 
truant  soul  v/hich  he  had  so  carelessly  let  slip  through 
his  fingers  into  the  abode  of  eternal  bliss.  In  this  he 
was  more  successful,  but  he  forgot  to  give  God  the 
glory. 

So,  where  proud  mesmerism  failed, 
The  fervent  prayer  to  God  prevailed. 
Trust  then  the  magic  povrer  who  durst ; 
I'll  trust  the  mighty  Father  first. 
And  when,  O  Lord,  "  thy  kingdom  come," 
If  I,  by  faith,  be  Abra'm.'s  son. 
Nor  grace,  nor  faith,  nor  virtue  lack, 
Prom  thence  no  power  will  caU  me  back. 

It  is  not  at  all  strange  that  Adele  should  be  dissat- 
isfied, and  reproach  her  operator  for  calling  her  back. 
She  had  lived  long  enough  in  this  world  to  experience 
its  countless  woes,  and  had  frequently,  in  the  mes- 
meric state,  been  in  heaven,  and  tasted  its  never-ending 
joys. 


OPPOSITION    LINE  143 

But  how  does  this  account  stand  in  the  light  of 
divine  revelation  ?  God  has  from  the  beginning  pre- 
sented mankind  with  a  plan  of  salvation.  But  that 
plan  has  never  suited  the  wicked.  They  have  ever 
been  seeking  out  one  of  their  own.  The  ancient 
Babylonians  undertook  to  build  their  way  up  to  heaven 
with  brick  and  mortar.  The  modern  Babylonians  are 
now  undertaking  it  by  psychology.  And,  in  the  case 
of  Adele,  it  appears  their  plan  works  admirably.  She 
actually  got  there  in  safety,  and  had  it  not  been  for 
the  unwillingness  of  her  operator,  she  would  have 
remained  there  forever,  according  to  her  own  confes- 
sion. 

Now,  it  is  abundantly  revealed  in  Scripture  that 
there  is  but  one  plan  of  salvation :  "  This  is  the  stone 
which  was  set  at  nought  of  you  builders,  which  is 
become  the  head  of  the  corner.  Neither  is  there  sal- 
vation in  any  other :  for  there  is  none  other  name 
under  heaven  given  among  men,  whereby  we  must 
be  saved."  (Acts  iv.  11,  12.)  In  the  psychological 
tower  this  stone  is  left  out  —  set  at  nought  by  its 
builders. 

Yet  mesmerism  pretends  to  offer  us  indubitable 
evidence  that  the  "  psyche,"  "  the  ultimate  of  the 
spiritual  body,  the  inner  man^^  is  set  at  liberty  by 
mesmerism,  and  sent  into  the  eternal  abode  of  happi- 
ness, and  may  be  retained  there  at  the  will  of  the 
parties  forever.  This  appears  evident  from  the  caution 
Cahagnet  gives  to  mesmerizers,  not  to  let  their  sub- 
jects give  them  the  slip  as  Adele  did,  and  hide  them- 
selves perhaps  in  some  amaranthine  grove  till  all  is 
over  on  earth  with  the  body.  Like  some  poor  trem- 
bling slave,  being  permitted  by  his  master  to  make  a 
short  visit  to  a  land  of  liberty,  watches  his  opportunity 


144  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

to  hide  himself  in  the  thicket  of  some  wood  till  the 
search  of  his  master  is  over. 

The  reader  will  recollect  that  Cahagnet  tried  this 
experiment  for  the  express  purpose  of  ascertaining 
whether  a  clairvoyant,  once  in  heaven  by  mesmerism, 
could  remain  there  if  he  chose.  And  the  result  was, 
he  ascertained,  that  if  the  clairvoyant  was  any  way 
stubborn  about  coming  back,  there  was  not  power 
enough  in  mesmerism  to  bring  him  back.  Hence  his 
caution  to  operators  not  to  let  their  subjects  slip  away 
from  them. 

Now,  in  the  light  of  common  sense  and  divine 
revelation,  the  whole  affair  is  so  ridiculous  as  almost 
to  make  an  iron  pen  blush  to  write  it ;  yet,  such  is 
the  rage  of  mesmeric  mania,  that  it  seems  to  threaten 
to  carry  all  before  it.  Men  whose  powers  of  mind*  are 
such  as  would  seem  sufficient  to  shield  them  from  the 
illusion,  are  often  the  first  to  run  into  it. 

But  there  has  always  been  a  tendency  in  man  to 
seek  some  opportunity  to  throw  off  those  moral  re- 
straints which  a  kind  Providence  has  laid  us  under 
for  our  good  and  his  glory,  and  to  find  some  other  way 
to  get  along  which  is  more  congenial  to  the  feelings 
of  depraved  nature.  And  nothing  seems  better  calcu- 
lated to  effect  this  purpose  than  the  so  called  science 
of  mesmerism.  It  is,  in  its  general  features,  well  cal- 
culated to  meet  the  approbation  of  a  wicked  world. 
Nothing  can  be  more  repugnant  to  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ.  One  affirms,  the  other  denies.  If  either  one 
is  true,  the  other  is  false.  Christ  and  Antichrist  are 
not  more  antagonistic  than  Christianity  and  Mesmer- 
ism. 

Christ  said  to  the  wicked  and  unbelieving  Jews, 
"Yet  a  little  while  am  I  with  you,  and  then  I  go  unto 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  145 

him, that  sent  me.  Ye  shall  seek  me,  and  shall  not 
find  me :  and  where  I  am,  thither  ye  cannot  come." 
(John  vii.  33,  34.)  But  it  appears  from  the  m-science 
of  mesmerism,  that  they  might,  with  all  their  sins  and 
unbelief,  have  found  him  in  heaven  had  they  been  well 
mesmerized.  It  is  evident  that  it  requires  no  Daniel 
to  teach  us  that,  in  proportion  as  mesmerism  ad- 
vances, the  Bible  must  recede ;  and  when  the  truth 
of  one  is  fairly  established,  the  other  is  as  fairly  over- 
thrown. 

13 


146  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 


CHAPTER    X. 

GOOD  AND  BAD  SPIRITS.  —  TABLE  TIPPING.  —  THEIR 
REAL  TIPPING  DOUBTED.  —  RAPID  PROGRESS  OF 
SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATIONS.  —REFLECTIONS.  —DOU- 
BLE   LIFE    IN    MAN. 

But  suppose  disclosures  are  actually  made  by  the 
spirits  of  the  dead,  there  is  no  safety  in  relying  on 
them ;  for  it  is  generally  admitted  by  spiritualists 
themselves  that  both  good  and  bad  spirits  do  influence 
mediums,  and  through  them  make  revelations.  One 
describes  its  heavenly  joys,  and  tells  how  long  it  has 
been  dead,  &c.,  while  the  person  whose  spirit  it  pro- 
fesses to  be  is  still  living.  Another  was  called  up  who 
appeared  to  be  very  correct  till  he  came  to  speak  of 
his  death,  which  he  said  was  of  consumption  ;  while 
the  fact  was,  he  was  blown  up  in  a  steamboat.  But 
a  still  greater  mistake  occurred  in  the  case  of  Dr. 
Franklin.  Three  individuals,  by  preconcerted  agree- 
ment, went  to  three  places  at  a  distance  from  each 
other  on  the  same  evening,  where  the  rapping  spirits 
held  sessions,  and  at  eight  o'clock,  or  as  near  as  pos- 
sible, each  one  called  up  the  spirit  of  Dr.  Franklin,  and 
held  a  conversation  with  him  nearly  an  hour.  So  hiss 
spirit  was  present  at  the  same  time  in  three  places,, 
remote  from  each  other.  This  was  not  all  —  one  of 
the  visitors  engaged  the  doctor  in  conversation  on  hisi 
favorite  topic  —  electricity.  But  after  a  long  time, 
finding  him  very  ignorant  of  his  own  theory,  he  said 
to  him,  "  Why,  doctor,  we  thought  when  you  was  alive 
you  did  know  something  ;  but  now  you  seem  almosti 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  14'? 

a  fooV  Done,  rapped  the  spirit  indignantly ;  and 
away  went  the  doctor.  When  the  spirits  get  drawn 
into  a  bad  fix,  they  generally  get  out  by  rapping,  done. 
The  one  purporting  himself  to  be  Dr.  Franklin,  and 
finding  himself  unable  to  play  off"  the  old  philosopher, 
rapped  out  done^  and  cleared  out. 

But  his  mortification  must  have  been  still  greater 
when  he  came  to  learn  that  he  had,  at  the  same  time, 
been  in  two  other  neighborhoods  talking  with  others, 
and  had  but  one  spirit.  The  tipping  of  tables  and 
moving  of  furniture  has,  by  some,  been  considered  a 
stronger  demonstration  of  the  presence  of  spirits  than 
the  raps  ;  while  others  attribute  the  former  to  electrical 
action,  independently  of  spiritual  agency,  as  may  be 
seen  by  the  following,  which  appeared  in  the  "  New 
York  Courier  and  Enquirer  :  "  — 


"HOW  TABLES  ARE  MADE  MEDIUMS. 

"  In  the  family  of  a  friend  of  ours,  several  attempts 
have  been  made  to  divine  the  secret  of  table  moving, 
chair  dancing,  and  other  freaks  of  household  furniture, 
which  form  part  of  the  spirit-rapping  exhibitions. 
Last  evening  they  succeeded  perfectly. 

"  Standing  around  a  small  table,  five  or  six  members 
of  the  family  kept  their  hands  upon  its  surface  for  a 
considerable  time,  until  the  magnetic  current  between 
themselves  and  the  table  was  established. 
-^'  "  They  then  found  that,  by  holding  the  hand  a  short 
distance  from  the  table,  attraction  remained  in  full 
force.  The  table,  without  being  touched,  was  thus 
lifted,  or  made  to  lean  over  at  an  angle  of  forty-five 
degrees,  and  subsequently  followed  the  operators  to 
some  distance. 


148  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

"  The  table  on  which  these  young  people  experi- 
mented was  a  very  small  one.  We  presume  that, 
when  the  experiment  has  been  a  few  times  repeated, 
the  table  will  yield  to  the  attractive  force  with  more 
ready  and  wonderful  agility.  There  can  be  little 
doubt  that  it  is  magnetized ;  and  if  so,  each  trial,  we 
believe,  will  increase  the  power  of  attraction.  This, 
we  take  it,  solves  the  whole  seeming  mystery  of  the 
spiritual  imposition  which  has  been  practised  so  long 
upon  the  credulous  and  superstitious.  The  moving 
of  tables  by  an  unseen  power  has  always  been  ac- 
counted a  greater  feat  than  the  producing  of  sound. 
We  have  no  doubt  that  the  same  agent  can  produce 
both  effects. 

"  The  imposture  consisted  in  the  pretence  to  be 
supernatural  intercommunications.  We  hope  soon  to 
hear  that,  the  key  being  discovered,  the  whole  impo- 
sition has  come  to  an  end. 

"  Of  the  boldness  of  the  imposture  we  have  had, 
and  have  given,  illustrations ;  and  probably  the  rappers 
will  find  some  dupes,  even  in  spite  of  evidence  of  their 
fraud." 

The  "  Courier "  seems  to  be  of  opinion  that  the 
hitherto  pretended  spiritual  agency  in  table  tipping 
is  an  imposition  upon  the  credulous  and  superstitious. 
But  with^all  due  regard  to  the  opinion  of  that  respect- 
able paper,  we  ask,  Which  requires  the  more  credu- 
lity —  to  believe  the  table  tips  by  the  agency  of  unseen 
spirits,  or  by  unseen  and  undemonstrated  magnetism  ? 
There  is  certainly  no  more  proof  of  the  one  than  there 
is  of  the  other.  It  is  mere  theory  in  either  case. 
Notice  the  following  expression :  "  We  presume  that, 
when  the  experiment  has  been  a  few  times  repeated, 
the  table  will  yield  to  the  attractive  force  with  more 


OPPOSITION     LINE.  149 

ready  and  wonderful  agility.  There  can  be  little 
doubt  that  it  is  magnetized;  and  if  so,  each  trial,  we 
believe,  will  increase  the  power  of  attraction.  This, 
we  take  it,  solves  the  whole  seeming  mystery,"  &c. 
This  is  certainly  contrary  to  any  known  laws  of  mag- 
netism. We  take  it  the  table  was  a  wooden  one  ;  and 
by  what  laws  of  that  agent  can  wood  be  magnetized  ? 
Again :  even  if  the  table  was  of  either  of  the  metals 
susceptible  of  receiving  the  magnetic  property,  by 
what  law  of  magnetism  would  repeated  trials  render 
it  more  susceptible  of  magnetic  attraction  ?  If  this 
solves  the  "  mystery  of  spiritual  imposition,"  it  does 
so  only  by  involving  us  in  a  still  greater  mystery  or 
scientific  imposition. 

So  the  discovery  of  the  key  to  unlock  the  mystery 
is  the  discovery  of  a  greater  mystery  than  that  which 
is  under  the  lock.  So,  on  the  whole,  we  are  no  wiser, 
no  less,  credulous,  or  less  imposed  upon  than  before. 
If  there  is  any  magnetic  attraction  between  the  hand 
and  the  table,  it  is  certain  that  they  would  be  in  oppo- 
site states ;  and  nothing  would  be  more  easy  than  to 
detect  these  opposite  states  by  the  usual  tests  of  mag- 
netism. This  never  has  been  done,  and  never  can  be. 
We  ask,  then,  how  the  mystery  is  solved  ?  Let  it  be 
scientifically  solved,  and  not  by  the  arbitrary  use  of 
terms,  and  we  are  ready  to  admit  the  solution  ;  but 
not  till  then.  But  the  mystery  stops  not  here.  It  is 
said  that  tables  move  in  any  direction,  according  to 
the  will  of  a  person  or  persons  in  the  room.  Now, 
how  does  magnetism  obey  the  will  of  a  mortal  ?  or 
what  power  has  the  will  to  control  that  agent  without 
the  use  of  means  ? 

A  correspondent  of  the  "  Tribune  "  lately  asserted 
that,  after  taking  a  ride  on  the  table  herself,  it  moved 
13* 


150  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

in  a  certain  direction  by  the  will  of  a  person  who  was 
directed  to  will  it  that  way.  She  attributed  the  cause 
to  electricity  instead  of  magnetism,  which  accounts 
for  the  phenomenon  just  as  well ;  and  had  she  said 
the  motive  power  was  the  moon,  or  Jupiter,  it  would 
still  explain  the  phenomenon  just  as  well.  For  there 
can  be  no  philosophical  reason  given  why  the  primary 
or  secondary  planets  should  not  obey  the  will  of  man 
as  well  as  electricity  or  magnetism ;  and  that  they 
have  as  much  power  to  give  the  ladies  a  ride  on  tables, 
cannot  be  doubted.  Now,  one  of  two  opinions  mast 
be  adopted,  or  the  electrical  or  magnetical  theory  of 
table  tipping  must  be  abandoned.  And  that  is  — 
electricity  controls  the  will,  or  the  will  controls  elec- 
tricity. And  if  electricity  controls  the  will,  we  are 
not  free  agents,  and  are  not  accountable  to  our  Maker. 
But  if  the  will  controls  electricity,  that  is  not  a  free 
agent,  or  one  that  is  subject  to  the  laws  of  nature. 

But  it  appears  that  the  advocates  of  table  tipping 
do  not  agree  concerning  the  agency  in  the  case.  We 
give  the  following  from  the  "  Spiritual  Telegraph." 
published  at  New  York,  March  26,  1853 :  — 

"TABLES  PKEACHING. 

"  It  seems  there  are  not  only  '  sermons  in  stones,'  but 
sermons  in  tables ;  and  they  are  doing  a  work  for 
spiritual  truth,  or  are  the  visible  instruments  of  produ- 
cing conviction  that  a  less  sensuous  form  of  preaching 
would  never  have  accomplished.  People  amuse  them- 
selves with  what  is  called  the  '  table  experiment,'  and 
when  they  imagine  they  have  made  a  great  electric 
discovery,  they  find  all  at  once  that  they  have  obtained  ^ 
more  than   they  have  bargained   for.     They  do  not 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  151 

always  succeed  in  stopping  the  table  at  will,  and 
sometimes  they  ask  questions  'just  for  fun,'  and  are 
struck  with  amazement  at  the  wonderful  intelligence 
of  '  electricity.'  Nothing  could  be  more  exactly  adapt- 
ed to  our  materialist  brethren  than  this  table  experi- 
ment. Every  fashionable  circle  that  plays  with  it  is 
convinced  that  the  table  moves ;  that  they  do  not 
move  it ;  and  they  know  that  some  power  must  do 
it.  Every  man  of  science,  or  the  merest  casual  reader 
of  any  work  on  electricity,  scouts  the  idea  of  the  phe- 
nomenon being  produced  by  that  agent.  The  absurd- 
ity of  charging  a  table,  standing  on  the  floor,  often 
with  metallic  casters,  with  electricity,  is  sheer  non- 
sense." 

The  editor  then  gives  an  extract  from  a  letter,  dated 
Morrisville,  Bucks  county,  Pennsylvania,  February  25, 
1853,  in  which  we  notice  the  following :  — 

"  The  general  introduction  of  the  '  table  experiment ' 
contributed  to  spread  the  matter  beyond  all  calcula- 
tion ;  the  notion  that  the  tables  were  moved  by  simple 
electricity  became  almost  general ;  and  nobody  had 
any  scruples  against  amusing  themselves  with  so 
harmless  a  plaything.  The  consequence  was,  every 
one  tried  it  with  various  success ;  and  the  curiosity  of 
some  led  them  to  extend  their  experiments,  and  ask 
the  tables  to  answer  questions,  by  certain  affirmative 
and  negative  motions  agreed  on,  which  succeeded  to 
the  astonishment  of  almost  every  body,  and  is  likely 
to  establish  a  very  important  fact,  viz.,  that  electricity 
is  possessed  of  intelligence  far  surpassing  that  of  many 
of  the  experimenters." 

Thus  we  see  the  evil  tendency  of  ascribing  electrical 
agency  to  the  "  table  experiments."  It  first  emboldens 
people    to    experiment ;    and    finally,    making    them 


152  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

ashamed  to  attribute  such  intelligence  to  electricity,  it 
leaves  them  no  other  alternative  but  to  impute  the 
whole  to  spiritual  agency.  We  are  sorry  to  find  some 
who  pretend  to  oppose  spiritual  disclosures,  and  yet 
maintain  the  electrical  agency  in  table  tipping.  We 
have  always  contended  that  such,  in  the  end,  would 
do  more  towards  advancing  the  fatal  delusion  than 
the  advocates  of  spiritual  disclosures  themselves. 
Among  them  we  find  the  editor  of  the  "  Watchman," 
published  at  Hartford.  No  one  appears  to  be  more 
violently  opposed  to  spiritual  disclosures  than  he,  and 
yet  none  are  more  sanguine  in  the  opinion  that  elec- 
tricity is  the  agent  employed  in  table  tipping.  And 
what  is  more  singular,  he  does  not  believe  in  a  con- 
scious, personal  devil,  or  in  the  conscious  state  of  the 
dead.  It  follows,  then,  that  neither  the  devil,  nor  the 
spirits  of  the  dead,  have  any  thing  to  do  in  the  phe- 
nomenon. He  says,  "  We  have  also  witnessed  the 
tippings;  and  but  a  few  evenings  since  we  had  the 
privilege  of  scanning  the  phenomenon  for  near  two 
hours,  and  we  think  all  present  were  perfectly  satis- 
fied that  the  power  employed  by  the  actors  was  elec- 
tricity, coupled  with  nervous  sympathy."  He  thinks 
that  to  charge  the  agency  home  upon  the  devil  would 
have  a  tendency  "  to  induce  a  faith  that  there  are 
spirits  of  the  dead,  or  begetting  a  settled  spirit  of  scep- 
ticism in  divine  revelation,  and  especially  in  the  mira- 
cles of  the  gospel."  According  to  the  theory  that 
there  are  no  devils  but  wicked  men,  to  say  the  unseen 
devil  moves  tables,  would  be  to  say  there  are  conscious 
spirits  of  the  dead.  But  with  all  due  respect  to  his 
opinion,  we  kindly  ask.  Which  is  the  more  dangerous 
error  —  that  dead  men  have  living,  conscious  spirits,  or 
that  electricity  has  such  a  spirit?     That  the  phenom- 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  153 

ena  are  produced  by  a  conscious  agent  is  evident  from 
his  own  observation ;  for  he  says,  to  produce  the  phe- 
nomena there  must  be  a  little  company  to  make  the 
trial,  say  half  a  dozen,  all  wishing  to-  see  the  tippings, 
and  then  they  will  get  such  testimony  as  is  congenial 
to  the  wish  of  the  company.  Now,  one  of  three  things 
grant  the  wish  of  such  a  company,  viz.,  the  devil,  the 
spirits  of  the  dead,  or  electricity.  But  what  do  we 
gain  by  denying  the  existence  of  the  devil,  and  grant- 
ing Satanic  power  to  electricity  ?  It  is  only  substitut- 
ing the  name  electricity  for  that  of  devil.  He  thinks 
the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  this  agent  will  per- 
form greater  wonders  than  has  ever  been  witnessed. 
This  is  more  than  the  believers  in  a  devil  believe  him 
capable  of  doing,  and  makes  electricity  able  to  out- 
devil  the  devil  himself.  Perhaps  he  thinks  that,  in- 
stead of  taking  a  ride  round  a  room  on  a  table,  they 
will  yet  be  so  highly  charged  as  to  be  able  to  take 
passengers  and  baggage  over  the  country,  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  railroad  cars  and  steamboats. 

In  his  article,  a  quotation  from  which  we  have 
given,  he  has  shown  to  the  world  that  he  is  as  grossly 
ignorant  of  the  first  principles  of  electricity  as  he  is  of 
the  alphabet  of  mesmerism.  By  what  law  of  electricity 
can  a  table  be  so  charged  as  to  raise  it  from  the  floor, 
with  a  man  or  two  on  it,  and  by  the  same  charge  be 
so  riveted  to  the  floor  that  two  or  three  cannot  raise 
it?  Or  by  what  kind  of  electrical  action  can  a  table 
be  made  to  walk  off"  on  all  fours  at  an  editorial  nod  ? 

We  have  often  heard  of  "the  editor's  devil,"  but 
always  thought  he  was  one  of  the  homo  g-enus, 
endowed  with  the  faculty  of  giving  the  power  of 
speech  to  type  metal.  But  this  editor  seems  possessed 
of  one,  sui  generis,  which  professes  to  be  unlike  any 


154  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

of  the  black  fraternity,  disclaiming  all  relationship  to 
the  Satanic  family,  but  claiming  kindred  to  the  light- 
ning of  heaven  ;  and  whose  throne  is  the  clouds,  and 
whose  sceptre  is  the  thunderbolt.  Now,  with  all  due 
regard  to  the  rapid  march  of  table-tipping  intellect, 
we  candidly  ask.  Which  is  the  less  sin  in  a  Christian 
editor  —  to  be  led  astray  by  the  old  devil,  or  the  neio 
one? 

As  his  paper  professes  to  be  perfectly  free  for  the 
investigation  of  both  sides  of  a  question,  I  thought  to 
avail  myself  of  the  opportunity  to  defend  my  position, 
especially  as  the  attack  was  made  upon  me  and  my 
views.  But  he  found  it  more  convenient  to  curtail  the 
professed  freedom  of  his  paper  than  to  defend  himself 
upon  sound  principles  of  philosophy,  common  sense, 
or  divine  revelation  ;  and  so  I  was  refused  a  hearing. 
It  was  undoubtedly  thought  imprudent  to  trust  the 
public  with  both  sides  of  the  question. 

While  we  see  such  a  fearful  shrinking  from  a  can- 
did investigation  of  the  subject,  even  by  those  who 
profess  to  combat  the  fatal  delusion,  v\^e  cannot  won- 
der at  the  complete  success  those  meet  with  who 
really  do  advocate  it.  Now,  what  is  being  done  to 
prevent  the  wide  spread  of  the  God-forbidden  prac- 
tice ?  Nothing  cfTectual.  Many  who  pretend  to 
oppose  it  seem  afraid  to  meet  it  in  its  true  light.  One 
is  afraid  to  call  it  satanic  influence,  because  a  belief 
in  his  majesty's  personality  is  not  as  popular  in  these 
knowing  times  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  our  Savior. 
Another  fears  to  be  thought  behind  the  times  with 
regard  to  the  rapid  march  of  science ;  and  so  the  devil 
is  left  to  take  the  field  with  little  or  no  opposition. 

But,  after  all,  it  remains  to  be  proved  that  tables 
move   or  tip  in  what  is  called  table-tipping  experi- 


OPPOSITION     LINE.  155 

ments.  They  are  inaiiiaiate  and  inert  bodies.  And 
a  body  at  rest  will  remain  at  rest  forever,  or  until  a 
sufficient  force  is  applied  to  move  it.  This  force  does 
not  reside  in  the  human  will,  neither  can  the  will 
alone  call  a  force  into  action. 

But  it  may  be  asked  how  they  appear  to  move,  if 
they  really  do  not.  The  fact  is,  they  never  do  move 
in  the  eyes  of  those  who  know  that  the  whole  is  a 
hallucination  of  the  mind.  No  matter  how  many 
persons  are  ready  to  testify  to  their  locomotion,  no 
human  testimony  is  to  be  allowed  in  the  case.  It  is 
contrary  to  ail  known  and  immutable  laws  of  nature, 
but  is  in  harmony  with  a  certain  kind  of  phantasm 
known  in  all  ages.  Under  certain  circumstances, 
people  have,  from  time  immemorial,  seen  things 
which  did  not  exist.  But  these  things  never  happen 
in  the  normal  play  of  the  faculties  of  the  mind.  To 
produce  them,  the  equilibrium  of  the  mind  must  be 
destroyed  by  some  exciting  cause.  This  cause  is 
sometimes  sickness  —  exhaustion  from  fatigue  —  the 
action  of  certain  medicines,  and  sometimes  fear ;  but 
more  frequently  by  something  being  presented  to  the 
mind  of  a  wonderful  or  marvellous  nature.  As  man 
seems  to  have  an  innate  propensity  for  something  of 
a  stimulous  nature,  such  as  distilled  spirits,  tobacco, 
tea,  &c.,  so  the  mind  has  an  innate  tendency  to  swal- 
low whatever  is  marvellous  or  mysterious  ;  and  hence 
children  are  all  ears  to  a  ghost  story,  a  witch  feat,  or 
a  fairy  dance ;  indeed,  we  are  all  children  in  that 
respect.  Thousands  of  men  may  be  easily  got  to- 
gether to  see  a  man  walking  about  dressed  in  a  wind- 
ing sheet,  and  Vvdthout  a  head  on  ;  while  it  would  be 
difficult  to  find  one  willing  to  put  himself  to  much 
trouble  to  see  a  man  walking  ivith  a  head  on. 


156  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

In  the  former  case,  there  is  a  banquet  spread  to 
feast  the  marvellous,  the  appetite  of  which,  by  nature 
keen,  is  more  so  on  approaching  the  object  of  its 
desire.  Like  a  hungry  wolf,  whose  appetite  for  mut- 
ton is  naturally  sharp,  is  doubly  so  on  approaching 
the  quiet   fold. 

But,  as  feeding  the  desire  for  distilled  spirits  results 
in  intoxication,  so  feeding  the  desire  for  the  marvel- 
lous results  in  hallucination,  or  intoxication  of  the 
mind.  Under  such  circumstances,  a  man's  testimony 
is  not  to  be  taken,  any  more  than  when  he  is  drunk. 
The  deranged  play  of  the  senses  presents  things  to  the 
mind,  in  strength,  according  to  the  degree  of  excite- 
ment, but  not  at  all  according  to  facts  ;  and,  as  we 
are  by  nature  creatures  of  sympathy,  it  is  often  very 
difficult  for  us  to  avoid  sympathizing  with  our  fellow- 
creatures,  and  often  as  difficult  to  avoid  partaking  of 
their  excitement  and  consequent  frenzy. 

Through  this  channel  the  monomania  seems  con- 
tagious. For  instance  :  let  a  person  report  that  at  a 
certain  place  he  saw  a  ghost  walking  about  w^ith  his 
throat  cut ;  a  mystery  is  involved,  and  an  excitement 
raised,  and  the  next  person  passing  that  way  will  be 
very  likely  to  see  it,  and  the  next,  and  so  on  till  it  is 
seen  by  hundreds :  and  the  more  the  excitement  is 
raised,  the  more  people  will  see  it.  In  this  way  the 
most  marvellous  things  were  witnessed  in  the  "  Salem 
witchcraft,"  as  long  as  the  excitement  was  kept  up ; 
and  execution  followed  execution,  till  the  excitement 
gave  way  to  the  fear  of  individual  safety,  which  put 
an  end  to  the  shameful  tragedy. 

Just  so  in  mesmerism.  It  is  mystery  and  excite- 
ment. Indeed,  it  is  nothing  else,  and  its  wonders  are 
as  unreal   as   the   feats   of  the    Salem  witches;  and 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  157 

when  viewed  in  the  light  of  sober  reason,  as  quickly 
vanish. 

Now,  a  person  to  see  a  table  walk  off  on  all  fours, 
or  a  witch  ride  a  broomstick  through  the  air,  must 
yield  himself  to  the  excitement  of  the  marvellous, 
and  catch  the  mania,  —  be  in  the  hallucinating  har- 
mony, —  and  these  things  may  be  seen  now,  as  well  as 
formerly  at  Salem.  No  new  principle  of  action  has 
sprung  into  being  since  the  days  of  Adam.  Talk 
about  the  electrical  philosophy  of  riding  on  a  table! 
The  same  cause  that  effects  it  will  carry  an  old  wo- 
man through  the  air  on  a  broomstick.  Only  get  up  an 
"  harraonial "  excitement  to  that  effect,  and  one  mtiy 
be  done  as  well  as  the  other.  It  costs  no  more  to 
charge  a  broomstick-  than  a  table.  The  same  prin- 
ciples that  explain  one,  explain  the  other. 

But  before  a  person  can  see  any  of  these  things,  he 
must  drink  in  the  witchcraft  mania;  but  if  he  knoivs 
them  to  be  "lying  wonders,"  he  can  never  see  them. 
Let  him  keep  himself  aloof  from  excitement,  retain- 
ing his  presence  of  mind,  and,  if  necessary,  look 
through  a  tube  or  a  keyhole  at  the  table,  or  a  part  of 
it,  and  all  the  mediums,  Avitches,  and  devils  cannot 
make  it  budge  an  inch  without  hands.  But  in  cases 
where  there  is  a  pact  all  in  "  harmony,"  wishing  and 
expecting  to  witness  the  wonder,  these  things  may  be 
seen. 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  marvellousness  produces 
excitement,  and  excitement  is  but  another  name  for 
monomania ;  that  is,  insanity  on  the  subject  of  the 
excitement.  This  is  the  true  secret  of  witchcraft, 
mesmerism,  psychology,  circle  disclosures,  rapping 
spirits,  table  tipping,  ghost  seeing,  haunted  houses, 
&c.,  whenever  any  one  of  these  becomes  the  rally- 
14 


158  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

ing  point  of  excitement.  Tliese  things  may  not  exist 
only  in  the  diseased  action  of  an  inflamed  imagi- 
nation,—  a  perversion  of  the  senses,  —  none  of  which 
are  more  perverted  than  that  wisdom  which  attempts 
to  account  for  them  scientifically.  Every  such  at- 
tempt is  virtually  an  attempt  to  mathematize  witch- 
craft. 

The  power  of  imagination  is  truly  wonderful,  and 
but  little  behind  it ;  and  not  less  mysterious  is  the 
power  of  excitement,  and  both  are  often  irresistibly 
contagious.  The  various  phenomena  of  mesmerism 
and  spiritual  disclosures  have  every  where  excited  the 
wonderful  and  the  marvellous,  the  very  elements  of 
which  compose  the  mystery,  which,  in  its  progress, 
has  gathered  force  from  the  nature  of  its  own  action. 
Like  a  stone  torn  from  the  brow  of  some  precipitous 
mountain,  in  its  descent,  at  first  slow,  acquires  in- 
creased momentum  from  its  own  motion,  which  again 
is  accelerated  by  its  own  momentum.  So  the  mys- 
tery of  mesmerism  and  spiritual  disclosures  has 
created  its  own  wonder,  and  its  own  wonder  has 
created  its  own  mystery. 

To  solve  this  mystery,  men  have  hitherto  looked 
the  wrong  way,  and  applied  the  wrong  tests.  Some, 
as  we  have  shown,  in  vain  have  attempted  to  solve  it 
scientifically.  This  cannot  be  done  till  the  mystery 
of  imagination  can  be  so  solved.  Others  have  at- 
tempted it  by  the  art  of  jugglery;  but  this  too  has 
failed ;  while  another  class  refer  a  part  of  it  to  the 
agency,  of  spirits.  This  comes  the  nearest  to  it;  for 
the  devil  plays  a  very  conspicuous  part  in  it.  Now,, 
we  venture  a  prediction,  that  the  thing  will  never  be 
solved  by  any  test  applied  to  the  apparent  mysteries' 
themselves  ;  for  the  more   the  thing  is  so  tested,  the : 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  159 

greater  the  mysteries  will  seem.  But  if  they  cannot 
be  solved,  there  is  a  way  to  make  them  vanish ;  that 
is,  try  the  strength  of  Imagination,  and  it  will  be 
found  she  is  capable  of  producing  all  these  wonders  ; 
and  this  being  found,  the  wonders  disperse.  Like  a 
cabal  of  fairies  who  revel  out  the  night  in  the  hall  of 
some  old  deserted  castle,  as  the  cock  begins  to  crow, 
and  the  day  to  usher  in,  with  hasty  steps  retire  ;  so 
he  who  knows  these  things  to  be  imagination  cannot 
investigate  them,  for  he  can  find  nothing  to  inves- 
tigate. To  him  no  tables  tip ;  no  communications  are 
made  ;  no  spirits  appear.  The  cock  has  crowed,  day- 
light has  appeared,  and  the  ghosts  are  gone.  The 
phantom  car  has  passed  his  platform,  and  left  him  to 
wonder  after  its  rapid  flight. 

To  investigate  a  fairy  dance,  one  must  go  in  the 
night;  for  he  cannot  find  one  to  investigate  by  day. 
So,  to  investigate  the  mysteries  of  modern  spiritual- 
ism, one  must  go  while  the  night  of  mysticism  rests 
on  his  mind.  The  secret  of  the  great  mystery  lies  in 
the  mind  of  the  beholder ;  and  when  he  knows  it  is 
there  he  no  longer  sees  it,  and  is  no  longer  "  in  har- 
mony," but  is  called,  by  those  that  are,  "  an  evil  spirit." 
Besides  the  effective  power  of  the  mind,  it  has 
another  property  not  generally  understood;  that  is, 
the  rapidity  with  which  it  passes  over  imaginary 
events.  To  clothe  our  ideas  with  words,  takes  up 
time  ;  but  ideas  often  pass  in  the  mind  without  that 
order  of  time.  There  are  many  instances  known  in 
which  persons  have  been  known  to  dream  as  much  in 
a  few  minutes  as  takes  them  hours  to  relate  —  the 
whole  passing  in  the  mind  instantly.  For  instance  : 
a  man  throws  himself  upon  a  couch,  and  dreams  of 
seeing  something  about  to   produce  a  great  noise,  as 


160  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

the  discharge  of  a  gun,  or  the  fall  of  a  heavy  body ; 
and,  at  the  instant  he  expects  the  report  or  the  crash, 
a  door  is  slammed  to,  and  wakes  him.  In  such  cases, 
it  is  evident  his  dream  did  not  begin  till  he  supposed 
it  ended  ;  that  is,  his  first  waking  impression  is  taken 
for  what  seemed  to  precede  the  noise,  when,  in  reality, 
it  is  what  passed  instantly  in  the  mind  after  the 
noise,  nothing  having  been  dreamed  before  the  noise. 
These  things  sometimes  occur  in  the  waking  state, 
as  well  as  in  sleep,  especially  when  anything  wonder- 
ful is  up  in  the  mind,  or  when  the  body  is  exhausted 
'with  fatigue  or  sickness.  A  volume  of  such  cases 
might  be  given  ;  but  the  reader  will  bring  to  mind 
circumstances  in  which  living  perscflis  have  appar- 
ently been  seen  when  absent,  and  even  when  dead. 
It  was  formerly  supposed  that  dreams  only  occurred 
in  sleep  ;  but  it  is  now  generally  admitted  that  they 
never  occur  in  perfectly  sound  sleep,  and  they  may<^ 
and  certainly  do^  occur  in  the  waking  state.  We  will 
relate  one  instance :  •  I  was  once  standing  on  the 
bank  of  the  Hoosic  River,  just  below  the  village  of 
Hoosic  Falls,  wondering  what  had  become  of  a  cow 
I  had  turned  into  a  field  by  the  river,  when,  looking  on 
the  opposite  side,  some  thirty  or  forty  rods  above,  I 
saw  a  lady  walking  down  on  the  sand,  between  high 
and  low-water  mark.  The  circumstance  excited  no 
interest  at  all  till  she  came  nearly  opposite,  to  a  high 
brush  fence,  called  by  the  farmers  a  water  fence,  as  it 
extends  from  the  common  fence  from  high-water 
mark  into  the  river.  This  she  mounted  with  extreme 
agility  and  buoyancy  ;  but,  in  setting  her  feet  upon  it, 
she  settled  into  it  with  a  crash  of  dry  limbs  ;  and,  as 
if  exerting  herself  a  few  moments  to  get  free,  she 
presently  became   a  large  yellow  dog ;  .still  exerting 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  161 

himself  to  get  out  of  the  old  fence,  which  was  all  the 
time  crackling.  But  soon  the  dog  underwent  another 
metamorphosis,  and  became  a  red  fox,  still  struggling 
to  get  out,  the  fence  still  crackling,  until  he  seemed 
to  lose  himself  in  the  fence,  and  all  was  still.  I  then 
went  immediately  up  the  river,  crossed  the  bridge,  and 
down  on  the  other  side,  critically  surveying  the  ground 
passed  over  by  the  spectre.  There  were  no  tracks 
left  by  the  lady  on  the  sand  she  walked  over,  and 
when  I  came  to  the  fence  seen  from  the  other  side, 
behold,  there  was  no  fence  there ! 

The  whole  scene  was  a  hallucination,  a  waking 
vision,  which  grew  out  of  the  little  excitement  raised 
upon  the  mysterious  disappearance  of  the  creature  I 
was  in  pursuit  of.  I  take  this  to  be  a  fair  specimen 
of  a  ghost  or  ghosts,  for  there  were  at  least  four —  the 
ghost  of  a  lady,  the  ghost  of  a  dog  and  fox,  and  the 
ghost  of  an  old  brush  fence.  I  never  in  all  my  life 
witnessed  any  thing  more  real  to  all  appearance. 
The  whole  time  the  scene  was  passing  was  about 
ten  minutes  ;  at  the  same  time,  perhaps,  the  impres- 
sions were  all  conceived  in  the  mind  in  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye ;  nor  is  it  at  all  certain  that  my  eyes  were  at 
any  time  directed  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  river, 
for  it  is  not  by  ordinary  vision  that  these  things  are 
seen. 

Such  supernatural  appearances  have  been  known 
in  all  ages.  Multitudes  are  said  to  follow  ^olus, 
the  god  of  wind,  to  a  mountain,  and  see  him  hurl  his 
great  spear  into  it,  and  let  out  the  wind  in  a  tornado. 
Again  :  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans  were  in  the 
habit  of  seeing  some  deceased  general  or  nobleman 
riding  in  his  carriage  through  the  streets  of  their 
cities,  the  horses  snorting,  the  thongs  cracking,  the 
14* 


162  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

dust  flying,  the  postilion  and  boxman  all  as  real  as 
the  lady,  the  dog,  and  the  fence — just  about. 

So  people  may  see  tables  tip,  and  ladies  ride  on 
them  as  on  a  broomstick  through  the  air,  while  stands 
and  chairs  are  dancing  the  polka.  But  in  such  cases, 
;io  human  testimony  is  to  be  taken  ;  the  mind's  dis- 
ease—  excited  imagination— is  at  the  bottom  of  it 
all.  It  is,  nevertheless,  the  strong  delusion  which  we 
are  forbidden  to  run  into,  and  which  leads  to  infidel- 
ity and  dishonoring  God;  and  is  spreading  at  so 
rapid  a  rate,  that  it  is  time  for  the  lovers  of  truth  and 
holiness  to  wake  up  and  defend  the  religion  of  Christ. 
Let  us  look  back  a  few  years,  and  see  the  rapid 
march  of  this  anti- Christian  monster,  and  say  how 
long  it  will  be  before  Christianity  will  be  numbered 
among  the  things  that  were.  "  It  will  be  five  years 
on  Thursday  next  (March  31)  since  the  Fox  family 
were  first  alarmed  by  the  '  rappings '  to  such  a  de- 
gree as  to  make  it  known  to  their  neighbors,  and  ask 
their  assistance  in  solving  the  mystery.  Then  it  pro- 
duced a  great  excitement  in  the  vicinity,  but  was 
soon  expected  to  pass  away,  and  the  family  prayed  to 
be  rid  of  the  annoyance. 

"  No\v,  every  state  in  the  Union,  Canada,  and  all 
parts  of  the  civilized  world  have  been  made  acquainted 
with  the  spiritual  manifestations.  The  mediums  of 
the  TJiiited  States  embrace  every  class  of  society,  and 
number  their  ten  thousands,  and  the  firm  believers 
are  not  less  than  half  a  million.  The  Fox  family 
have  visited  many  of  the  principal  cities,  and  have 
carried  convincing  proofs  of  spiritual  manifestations 
wherever  they  have  been."  —  Spiritual  Telegraph. 

Such  is  the  rage  of  mesmeric  mania.  What  Chris- 
tian,   without   the   deepest   emotions    of  horror,   can 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  163 

contemplate  its  progress  for  five  years  to  come  ?  It 
is  not  doing  its  work  among  the  obscm'e,  the  igno- 
rant, and  the  vulgar  alone.  Its  advocates  are  among 
the  influential,  the  popular,  and  such  as  stand  on  an 
eminence  in  society.  Even  professors  of  the  religion 
of  the  Holy  One  of  God  are  abandoning  the  cause  of 
their  heavenly  Master,  and  betaking  themselves  to 
the  rapping  spirits.  Even  the  very  watchmen  on  the 
walls  of  Zion,  instead  of  giving  the  alarm,  have  de- 
serted their  posts,  and  have  gone  over  to  the  enemy. 
The  latter  cases,  it  is  true,  are  not  many,  as  yet ;  but 
they  are  sufficient  to  show  what  must  be  expected  as 
the  thing  becomes  more  popular.  And  its  popularity 
is  having  a  rapid  growth ;  and,  unchecked,  must  soon 
drive  religion  from  the  land.  Its  touch  is  like  that  of 
the  torpedo.  Its  advocates  have  only  to  come  within 
its  influence,  and,  quick  as  magic,  all  reverence  for 
the  word  of  God  and  holy  things  is  paralyzed.  The 
"  circle  disclosures  "  are  now  law  and  gospel.  The 
age  of  faith  has  gone  by,  and  a  new  era  has  com- 
menced, in  which  men  are  to  walk  by  facts,  and  not 
by  faith.  And  holy  men  of  old,  instead  of  being  in- 
spired of  God,  were  good  mediums,  and,  among  them 
all,  Christ  was  the  most  perfect  medium. 

Now,  brethren,  far  and  near,  of  whatever  denom? 
ination,  what  is  to  be  done  ?  You  see  this  is  the  last, 
the  most  powerful,  and  boldest  attempt  of  the  devil  to 
tread  out  the  last  remaining  sparks  of  faith  in  God 
and  his  holy  word.  Shall  we  tamely  submit  and  give 
up  the  holy  cause,  after  having  so  long  defended  the 
faith  ?  or  shall  we  rise  en  masse,  in  the  strength  of 
Israel's  God,  and  boldly  face  the  magic  foe  ? 

Think  not  the  thing  will,  by  and  by,Mie  out  of  its 
own    accord.     It  is  a  matter    of  prophecy,    and    we 


164  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

must  meet  it  in  its  general  deluge-like  form.  It 
will  be  much  easier  to  meet  it  to-day  than  to-morrow. 
Every  day  it  is  growing  stronger  and  stronger,  spread- 
ing wider  and  wider,  and  taking  deeper  and  deeper 
hold  of  the  minds  of  the  people.  I  repeat  it,  we 
must  meet  it ;  and  shall  we  meet  it  with  the  boldness 
of  a  Paul?  or,  with  the  tiraorousness  of  a  Peter,  keep 
back  in  the  porch,  and  deny  that  we  ever  knew  the 
man  ?  I  know  there  are  many  who  are  not  aware  that 
there  is  any  danger  to  be  apprehended  from  it.  But 
there  is  danger.  The  evil  ivill  come  like  a  flood,  but 
let  it  not  find  us  asleep ;  for  the  more  we  fancy  our- 
selves secure,  the  sooner  it  will  overtake  us.  Some- 
thing should  be  done  immediately.  It  is  easier  to 
keep  ten  out  of  it  who  are  not  in  it,  than  to  get  one 
out  after  he  gets  in  ;  and  if  all  could  be  kept  out  who 
are  out,  it  would  soon  die.  But  if  we  fail  to  keep  all 
out,  let  us  not  fail  to  keep  out  all  we  can.  A  learned 
divine  has  said  it  was  worth  the  united  prayers  of  all 
Christendom  to  save  one  sinner ;  if  so,  it  is  certainly 
worth  its  united  efforts  to  save  the  Church  from  obliv- 
ion. Let  us  then  make  a  bold  and  noble  effort ;  and 
if  it  has  no  other  effect,  it  will  tell  in  our  favor  at  the 
day  of  judgment,  when  our  skirts  will  be  clear,  and 
we  shall  hear  the  happy  plaudit,  "  Well  done,  thou 
good  and  faithful  servant." 

I  would  therefore  recommend  to  every  clergyman  in 
the  United  States  and  through  the  world,  not  to  wait 
until  the  evil  gets  into  his  flock,  but  begin  now,  and 
show  up  rapology,  mesmerism,  necromancy,  &c.,  in 
their  true  light,  and  sufficiently  warn  the  people  of 
the  approaching  danger,  and  create  in  them,  as  far  as 
possible,  a  dread  of  its  deluding  influence  ;  and,  with 
the  blessings  of  God,  I  believe  such  efforts  would' be 
attended  with  much  good. 


OPPOSITION     LINE.  165 

We  cannot  do  better  than  to  close  this  chapter  by- 
introducing  a  few  remarks  by  J.  S.  White,  a  respect- 
able preacher  of  the  gospel  of  Christ  at  Worcester, 
Mass. :  — 

"  The  spirit  communications  are  spoken  of  as 
something  new  under  the  sun.  It  is  said  that  the 
race  is  so  far  advanced  in  progression,  that  this  mode 
of  revelation  or  communication  may  be  properly  and 
successfully  introduced.  It  is  contended  that  the  race 
is  to  be  enlightened  and  essentially  benefited  by  this 
mode  of  intelligence  ;  that  heaven  and  earth  are  to 
be  brought  together,  and  a  new  era  is  now  to  appear 
upon  the  world. 

"  That  this  is  new  in  the  history  of  the  world  is 
contrary  to  fact,  though  it  may  be  new  in  our  day ; 
for,  since  the  history  of  man,  we  find  this  pretended 
intercourse  with  the  spirits  of  the  dead  was  practised 
by  the  heathen,  before  the  days  of  Moses.  (See 
Deut.  xviii.  9-14.) 

"  In  the  catalogue  of  names  here  given,  we  have 
that  of  necromancy.  Webster  defines  necromancy 
thus  :  '  The  art  of  revealing  future  events  by  means 
of  a  pretended  communication  with  the  dead ; '  and 
necromancer,  '  One  who  pretends  to  foretell  future 
events  by  holding  converse  with  departed  spirits.' 
This  is  just  what  the  spirit  mediums  are  now  pre- 
tending to  do.  They  have  their  familiar  spirits,  guar- 
dian angels,  and  they  pretend  to  consult  them  in 
relation  to  the  affairs  of  the  living.  In  so  doing,  they 
do  the  very  thing  that  was  practised  by  the  heathen 
nations  some  four  thousand  years  ago.  Instead,  there- 
fore, of  this  being  a  step  forward  in  progression,  it  is 
a  long  step  backward  to  ancient  heathenism.     The 


166  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEORAPHIC 

Lord  said  that  this  was  one  of  the  abominations  for 
which  he  drove  the  heathen  out  of  Canaan. 

"  The  pretended  spirits  deny  the  Bible.  And  why  ? 
Because  the  Bible  condemns  them,  and  because  the 
Bible  affirms  the  opposite  of  what  they  claim. 

"Take  one  example:  Job  xiv.  21,  speaking  of  the 
man  who  dies,  it  is  said,  '  His  sons  come  to  honor, 
and  he  knoweth  it  not ;  they  are  brought  low,  but  he 
perceiveth  it  not  of  them.'  But  the  pretended  spirits 
say  they  do  know.  They  affirm  —  the  Bible  denies. 
Who  is  right?  Inasmuch,  then,  as  the  Bible  both 
condemns  and  contradicts  them,  they  are  compelled 
to  deny  some  part  of  it,  at  least,  in  order  to  have 
success  with  the  living. 

" '  When  they  shall  say  unto  you.  Seek  unto  them 
that  have  familiar  spirits,  and  unto  wizards  that  peep, 
and  that  mutter :  should  not  a  people  seek  unto  their 
God  ?  for  the  living  to  the  dead  ?  [That  is,  should 
a  people  seek  unto  the  dead  for  the  benefit  of  the 
living  ?]  To  the  law  and  to  the  testimony  :  if  they 
speak  not  according  to  this  word,  it  is  because  there 
is  no  light  in  them.'  (Isa.  viii.  19,  20.)  These  spirits 
do  not  speak  according  to  the  law  and  testimony; 
hence,  if  they  are  spirits,  they  are  spirits  of  darkness. 
But  it  is  said  they  do  sometimes  tell  the  truth,  and, 
therefore,  they  cannot  be  spirits  of  darkness.  No 
marvel ;  for  Satan  himself  is  transformed  into  an 
angel  of  light.  Therefore,  it  is  no  great  thing  if  his 
ministers,  (or  agents,)  also,  be  transformed  as  the 
ministers  of  righteousness,  whose  end  shall  be  ac- 
cording to  their  works.  (2  Cor.  xi.  14-18.)  '  Now 
the  spirit  speaketh  expressly,  that  in  the  latter  times 
some  shall  depart  from  the  faith,  giving  heed  to  se- 
ducing spirits  and  the  doctrines  of  devils;'  or  spirits 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  167 

that  teach  doctrines  of  devils.  (1  Tim.  iv.  1.)  Now, 
a  devil  is  an  adversary  ;  is  one,  or  is  something,  that 
opposes  the  truth.  These  spirits,  as  they  are  called, 
do  oppose  the  law  and  the  testimony  by  their  teach- 
ing ;  therefore,  they  teach  the  doctrines  of  the  devil. 
*  He  was  a  liar  from  the  beginning.'  '  The  serpent 
said  unto  the  woman.  Ye  shall  not  surely  die ;  for 
God  doth  know  that,  in  the  day  ye  eat  thereof,  then 
your  eyes  shall  be  opened,  and  ye  shall  be  as  gods, 
knowing  good  from  evil.'  (Gen.  iii.  4,  5.)  That  is, 
you  will  change  your  sphere  of  life  from  a  lower  to  a 
higher.  In  like  manner  do  those  spirits  now  teach, 
that  man  does  not  die,  but  only  changes  his  mode  of 
existence ;  passes  from  this  state  of  life  to  another, 
from  a  lower  to  a  higher,  where  he  will  know  far 
more  than  he  can  in  this  sphere,  where  he  will  be  as 
gods,  knoiving  good  and  evil ;  where  he  will  be  so  far 
advanced  in  knowledge,  that  he  can  teach  those  who 
are  in  this  sphere.  Thus  these  spirits  are  teaching 
but  the  old  doctrine  of  the  serpent,  which,  by  be- 
lieving, brought  death  and  all  its  train  of  evil  upon 
our  race.  Though  some  have  departed  from  the  faith, 
let  others  be  on  their  guard,  taking  heed  to  the  sure 
word  of  prophecy,  lest  they  also  be  carried  away  by 
the  devices  of  Satan." 


"DOUBLE  LITE  IN  MAN." 

Dr.  Newman,  in  his  "Philosophy  of  Charming," 
which  is  but  another  name  for  mesmerism,  says,  "  The 
body  is  the  house  of  the  soul.  In  an  upper  story, 
confined  to  an  inner  chamber,  closely  imprisoned,  and 
having  no  communication  with  the  exterior  world 
except  through  the  medium   of  the  life  principle,  re- 


168  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

sides  our  immortal  being."  And  for  proof  of  the 
double  life  in  man,  he  quotes  Gen.  ii.  7  :  "  And  the 
Lord  God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground, 
and  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life ;  and 
man  became  a  living  soul."  He  then  adds,  "  The 
Hebrew  word  in  that  passage  for  life  is  used  in  the 
plural.  It  should  read,  '  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the 
breath  of  lives.' "  And  further,  he  says  he  believes 
the  life  principle  "  is  as  immortal  as  the  soul,  but  only 
in  consequence  of  its  connection  with  the  soul,  to 
which  it  is  subservient." 

This  complete  double  being  of  man  is  a  strong- 
hold of  mesmerism.  But  how  does  the  text  prove 
the  position  it  was  quoted  for  ?  "  It  should  read, 
'  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  lives  ; '  "  that 
is,  at  least,  two  lives,  one  of  the  body,  and  one  of  the 
soul.  But  this  makes  the  soul  as  absolutely  depend- 
ent on  the  breath  for  its  life  as  it  does  the  body. 
And  when  the  body  stops  breathing,  these  lives  must 
cease.  Besides,  this  mode  of  reasoning  gives  a 
double  life  to  brutes  as  well  as  to  man  ;  for  they  all 
had  this  same  breath  of  life,  or  lives.  And  in  the 
flood,  all  creatures  that  had  the  same  breath  or  spirit 
of  life  died,  except  those  in  the  ark.  (Gen.  vii.  2.2.) 
Yet  he  says  he  believes  the  life  principle  is  as  immor-t 
tal  as  the  soul ;  and  there  is  the  same  evidence  that 
brutes  have  the  same  life  principle  indicated  by  the 
same  Hebrew. 

Again :  the  text  quoted  presents  another  difficulty] 
as  understood  by  the  doctor.  He  says  the  sorJ  isi 
"  closely  imprisoned  "  in  the  body.  We  would  like  to( 
know  why  Adam's  soul  was  '-'- closely  imprisoned'''^' 
before  it  was  guilty,  and  let  out  in  consequence  of 
becoming    guilty ;    for,    according    to    psychologists, 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  169 

death  is  letting  the  soul  out  of  the  body  ;  and  Adam's 
death  was  in  consequence  of  his  sin.  So,  who  can 
blame  the  poor  man  for  sinning?  God  left  him  no 
other  way  to  get  his  innocent  soul  out  of  its  close 
prison  but  to  sin  it  out.  And  who  can  blame  the 
devil  for  tempting  our  first  parents  to  sin  ?  He  did  no 
more  than  kindly  to  present  them  with  the  only  key 
to  unlock  the  door  of  their  prison.  But  mesmerized 
logic  is  difficult  to  be  understood. 
15 


170  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 


CHAPTER    XI. 

THE  EXISTENCE  OF  EVIL  SPIRITS  PROVED  BY  MES- 
MERIC DISCLOSURES.  —  THE  EASIEST  WAY  TO  AC- 
COUNT  FOR    IT. 

The  best  mediums  in  the  most  perfect  state  of 
extasis,  or  mesmeric  trance,  admit,  yea,  absolutely 
teach,  the  existence  of  evil  spirits,  which  do  influence 
men  to  evil  actions.  This  is  a  truth  which  may  be 
relied  on  with  the  utmost  confidence;  not  because  it 
is  taught  by  mesmerism,  but  because  it  is  taught  in 
the  word  of  God.  It  appears  that,  when,  through 
wickedness,  the  Spirit  of  God  is  withdrawn,  from  a 
man,  the  Lord  suffers  evil  spirits  to  possess  him.  See 
1  Sam.  xvi.  14 :  "  But  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  departed 
from  Saul,  and  an  evil  spirit  from  the  Lord  troubled 
him."  It  was  not  until  after  the  spirit  of  the  Lord 
forsook  him  that  he  sought  unto  a  woman  that  had  a 
familiar  spirit.  Those  who  possess  the  Spirit  of  God 
have  no  need  of  ''rapping  spirits,"  and  never  will 
resort  to  them  ;  for  the  Spirit  of  God  expressly  forbids 
it.  We  here  give  a  few  of  the  many  texts  that 
abundantly  prove  the  existence  of  such  spirits.  Luke 
vii.  21;  viii.  2.  Acts  xix.  12, 15.  Matt.  xii.  43.  Mark 
i.  23 ;  v.  2,  8 ;  vii.  25.     Luke  ix.  42. 

We  shall  proceed  to  show  from  mesmeric  disclo- 
sures that  these  spirits  do  indeed  act  a  very  conspicu- 
ous part  in  the  grand  drama  of  fallen  man.  For  this 
purpose  we  shall  appeal  to  the  mediums  of  that  coun- 
try which  is  noted,  not  only  as  being  the  cradle  of 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  171 

mesmerism,  but  that  in  which  it  is  most  refined,  and 
brought  into  the  highest  state  of  perfection* 

Cahagnet,  to  whom  reference  has  already  been 
made,  put  the  following  questions  to  his  ecstatic,  whom 
he  calls  Bruno,  and  received  the  following  answers. 
("  Spiritual  Telegraph,"  pp.  8,  9  :)  — 

"  What  are  the  other  properties  of  the  soul  ?  Is  it 
free  to  do  whatever  it  will  ?  "  "  No,  the  soul  is  influ- 
enced by  other  souls ;  it  is  the  latter  that  guide  it  in 
magnetism,  as  in  all  its  other  actions."  "  They  are, 
then,  guides  similar  to  yours?  Have  we  all  any?" 
"  Yes,  a  good  and  a  bad  one."  "  Where  are  they 
placed?  "  "  My  good  angel  is  before  me,  hovering  on 
the  road  to  virtue,  which  he  points  out  to  me,  and  the 
bad  is  on  my  left."  "  Is  there  any  means  to  withdraw 
one's  self  from  the  influence  of  the  bad  one  ?  "  "  They 
are  there  to  fulfil  their  mission;  it  is  ordained  so; 
man  can  scarcely  avoid  one  more  than  the  other." 

It  is  very  natural  for  depraved  mortals  to  seek  some 
excuse  for  sinning.  This  disclosure  is  very  congenial 
to  carnal  nature.  The  influence  of  the  bad  spirit  is 
unavoidable.  He  has  a  mission  to  fulfil ;  and  it  must 
be  fulfilled,  or  the  plan  of  the  Almighty  would  be 
frustrated.  Then  sin  is  absolutely  unavoidable.  This 
is  the  only  natural  and  reasonable  conclusion.  But 
how  widely  different  is  the  teachings  of  the  Holy 
Spirit! 

"  Submit  yourselves,  therefore,  to  God.  Resist  the 
devil,  and  he  will  flee  from  you.  Draw  nigh  to  God,^ 
and  he  will  draw  nigh  to  you."  (James  iv.  7,  8.)  This 
leaves  no  excuse  for  sinning.  If  we  wish  to  withdraw 
ourselves  from  the  influence  of  evil  spirits,  James  tells 
us,  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  how  to  do  it  without  difficulty. 
Draw  nigh  to  God,  and  resist  the  devil.  Bat  this  is 
at  war  with  the  doctrine  of  mesmerism. 


172  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

On  pages  12,  13,  Bruno  says  to  his  operator,  Caha- 
gnet,  "  I  should  b?  more  lucid  were  you  not  possessed 
by  an  evil  spirit."  "  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ?  " 
*'  I  mean  that  a  person  with  whom  you  have  no  longer 
friendly  relations  is  the  cause  of  your  being  beset  by 
an  evil  spirit."  "  What  power  can  this  spirit  have  over 
me  ?  I  in  no  wise  dread  him.  I  have  never  experi- 
enced any  effect  from  him."  "  Ah  !  such  are  men  who 
dread  nothing;  but  know,  once  for  all,  that  your 
power  is  a  complete  nullity  before  the  spirit;  and  God 
only  knows  what  force  a  spirit  can  display."  This,  if 
true,  is  rather  a  hard  case.  A  man  in  the  flesh,  an 
enemy  to  Cahagnet,  has  sent  him  an  evil  spirit  whose 
influence  he  is  unable  to  resist.  The  question  is.  How 
came  the  man  who  sent  this  spirit  into  Cahagnet  to 
have  more  power  to  keep  him  there  than  Cahagnet 
had  to  send  him  back  to  the  man  he  came  from,  unless 
the  man  who  sent  him  had  entered  into  a  league  with 
the  devil  to  keep  him  there  ?  It  is  evident  there  must 
be  a  superior  devil  somewhere ;  for,  in  this  case,  one 
devil  was  under  the  control  of  another. 

But  we  proceed :  "  Who,  pray,  thus  awakens  you 
at  the  moment  I  least  expected  it  ? "  "  Gabriel." 
"  For  what  reason  ?  "  "  Because  he  foresees  that  the 
evil  genius  could  answer  me  in  his  place;  and,  in  order 
to  thwart  his  designs,  he  will  awake  me  thus  when- 
ever he  deems  it  not  fit,  for  the  moment,  to  answer 
your  questions."  It  appears,  then,  that  even  the 
heavenly  angels  are  under  the  necessity  of  resorting 
to  cunning  stratagem  to  thwart  the  designs  of  evil 
spirits.  But  Christ,  while  on  earth,  had  no  recourse 
to  stratagem  ;  he  rebuked  them,  and  commanded  them 
to  come  out  of  the  possessed  ;  and  they  obeyed, 
(Mark  i.  23-26.) 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  173 

Page  21 :  "  You  told  me  yesterday  that  spirits,  in 
some  form  or  other,  introduce  themselves  into  our 
bodies,  to  torment  us  at  their  pleasure,  under  the 
mark  of  disease  ;  we  are,  then,  the  veriest  slaves  of 
the  universe  ;  it  is  by  no  means  to  be  presumed  that 
we  are  the  sport  of  such  or  such  a  spirit,  according  to 
his  caprice."  "  What  I  told  you  yesterday  is  the 
fruit  of  my  knowledge  in  the  state  I  am.  It  is  my 
conviction.  I  speak  of  what  I  behold  with  my  own 
eyes  ;  and  I  defy  any  somnambulist,  having  the  light  I 
have,  to  belie  me."  Pages  33,  34  :  "  Since  a  spirit  can 
introduce  itself  into  our  bodies,  and  make  us  speak 
despite  ourselves,  can  it  make  us  act  also?  "  "  Yes  ; 
this  question  I  put  to  you  has  reference  to  posses- 
sions: the  possessed  have  always  affirmed  what  you 
advance." 

The  Scriptures  do  not  justify  the  assertion.  In  the 
first  place,  the  devil  has  no  power  to  impel  us  to 
action,  but  is  permitted  to  tempts  persuade^  or  entice ; 
while  we  have  the  power  to  resist,  and,  by  drawing 
near  to  God,  may  always  resist  him.  Our  Savior  did 
so,  and  he  was  tempted  as  men  are,  but  always  re- 
sisted ;  and  had  it  been  possible  for  the  devil  to  have 
compelled  him  to  fall  down  and  worship  him,  no 
doubt  but  he  would  have  done  it,  instead  of  trying  to 
hire  him  to  do  it.  The  habitual  drunkard  might  just 
as  well  say  he  cannot  avoid  his  bowl ;  but  it  were 
easy  to  have  avoided  the  first  intoxicating  draught. 
So  it  is  comparatively  easy  to  avoid  first  evil  temp- 
tations ;  and  the  more  we  avoid  them,  the  more  easily 
we  may  avoid  them. 

On  page  66,  from  another  subject  or  medium, 
he  obtained  the  following:  "My  broth er-in -la v\^  is 
exasperated  at  my  rancor  towards  him  ;  but  he  io- 
15* 


174  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

demnifiecl  himself  for  it  last  night,  by  suggesting  bad 
dreanns.  I  dreamed  T  was  cutting  the  throat  of  his 
daughter,  my  niece,  who  is  in  heaven,  and  comes  to 
see  me  habitually.  I  concealed  her,  thus  assassinated, 
under  my  bed.  Good  Heavens,  how  I  suffered ! 
It  was  my  brother-in-law  who  represented  to  me 
those  horrid  images."  "But  the  good  angel  beside 
us  ;  can  he  not  protect  us  under  such  circumstances  ?  " 
"  Not  always  ;  our  souls  stand  in  need  of  his  coun- 
sels for  a  multitude  of  other  actions,  of  which  it  has 
no  recollection ;  for  the  spirit  sleeps  not,  and  our 
angel  cannot  always  prevent  by  night,  any  more  than 
by  day,  the  power  of  evil  spirits." 

It  appears,  then,  that  we  have  so  many  calls  upon 
our  guardian  angel,  by  night  and  by  day,  that  he  can- 
not attend  to  them  all,  and  hence  he  is  unable  always 
to  protect  us  from  evil.  But  there  is  a  God  who  is 
always  able  ;  had  we  not  better  trust  in  him  than  in 
the  spirits  of  the  dead  ? 

On  page  88  :  "  Still,  proof  exists  that  some  spirits 
see  matter,  since  they  upset  articles  of  furniture, 
vases,  &c.,  convey  messages  and  objects.  Those  are 
evil  spirits  that  are  in  the  circle  surrounding  the  earth, 
that  still  hover  over  it  and  do  these  things."  I  have 
long  since  thought  the  devil  was  a  table  tipper.  Give 
the  spiritual  mediums  rope  enough,  and  I  do  not 
know  but  they  will  all  hang  themselves  yet.  This 
begins  to  look  like  it ;  and  this  also,  which  we  find  on 
page  102  :  "  Can  evil  spirits  derange  our  intellect  on 
earth  ?  "  "  No."  "  Can  they  hallucinate  us  by  appa- 
ritions, removal  of  furniture,  noises,  (raps,  or  knocks,) 
and  a  thousand  other  things  of  this  kind  ?  "  "  They 
can  do  so  only  in  the  condition  wherein  you  find 
yourself  impressible;  but  most  frequently  these   hal- 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  175 

lucinatioiis  are  attributed  to  material  persons  of  a 
very  evil  influence,  who,  by  their  property,  or  those 
which  they  obtain  through  pacts  formed  with  spirits 
that  possess  this  affection,  take  delight  in  deranging 
our  ideas  and  tormenting  us  :  the  influence  of  poison 
has  much  to  do  with  it."  "  I  did  not  believe  in  such 
pacts."  "  They  exist,  but  nought  is  more  displeasing 
to  God." 

We  have  a  proverb  — "  Set  a  rogue  to  catch  a 
rogue."  And  why  not  set  a  devil  to  catch  a  devil  ? 
The  French  mediums  pretend  to  be  further  advanced 
in  spiritual  disclosures  than  the  American,  and  to 
have  passed  beyond  the  medium  state  to  the  ecstatic, 
by  which  they  enter  and  leave  heaven  with  about  the 
same  ease  and  facility  that  •  a  gentleman  enters  and 
leaves  his  parlor.  And  from  their  superior  facilities 
of  obtaining  spiritual  manifestations,  they  have  ascer- 
tained that  the  spiritual  rappings,  table  tippings,  &c., 
together  with  the  disclosures  made  through  these 
means,  are  all  the  work  of  evil  spirits,  got  up  by  men 
forming  pacts  or  leagues  with  devils.  And  these 
communications  are  made  by  '•  persons  of  a  very  evil 
influence,"  through  such  pacts.  Cahagnet  thus  con- 
tinues :  "  What  do  you  think  of  talismans  ?  "  "  There 
are  very  good  ones,  but  we  must  deserve  them  ;  it  is 
the  gift  of  God."  "  Could  you  give  me  the  design  of 
a  good  one  ? "  "I  cannot ;  but  there  is  one  worth 
them  all  —  placing  ourselves  under  the  divine  protec- 
tion, with  purity  of  heart ;  no  other  is  equal  to  this." 

We  ought  to  be  willing  to  receive  truth,  let  it  come 
from  whatever  source  it  may,  especially  when  it  har- 
monizes with  the  word  of  God.  The  devil  himself 
confessed  Jesus  Christ  to  be  the  Holy  One  of  God. 
That   is    the    truth,  but   none   the    more   so    for   his 


176  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

confession  ;   but   it  proves   that  a  liar  can  speak    the 
truth  occasionally. 

So  of  spiritual  disclosures :  provided  they  are  made 
by  wicked  spirits,  we  might  expect  as  a  matter  of 
policy,  now  and  then,  some  glimmerings  of  truth  ; 
and  here  is  one  concerning  talismans  :  "  There  is  one 
worth  them  all  —  placing  ourselves  under  the  divine 
protection,  with  purity  of  heart ;  no  other  is  equal  to 
this."  Let  the  reader  try  it.  We  will  warrant  him 
it  will  never  fail.  Every  word  of  God  is  pure.  He 
is  a  shield  unto  them  that  put  their  trust  in  him. 
(Prov.  XXX.  0.)  "  Trust  in  the  Lord  and  do  good  ;  so 
shalt  thou  dwell  in  the  land,  and  verily  thou  shalt  be 
fed.  Delight  thyself  also  in  the  Lord,  and  he  shall 
give  thee  the  desires  of  thine  heart."   (Ps.  xxxvii.  3,  4.) 

Further  evidence  of  the  existence  and  remarkable 
power  of  evil  spirits  is  given  in  the  second  volume  of 
the  "  Celestial  Telegraph,"  page  151  :  — 

"  We  borrow  from  the  journal  La  Republique,  of 
February  3,  1849,  a  recital  of  this  nature,  extracted 
from  the  Gazette  des  Tribunaux  :  — 

"  '  One  of  the  most  singular  facts,  a  fact  repro- 
ducing itself  every  night  for  the  last  three  weeks,  and 
baffling  all  imaginable  plans  that  have  been  adopted 
to  discover  the  cause  of  it,  sets  in  commotion  the 
whole  of  the  populous  quarter  of  the  Montagne 
Sainte  Genevieve,  the  Sorbonne,  and  the  Place  Saint 
Michel.  The  double  inquiry,  judicious  and  adminis- 
trative, which  has  been  going  on  for  some  days  past, 
verifies,  in  accordance  with  public  clamor,  the  follow- 
ing statement :  — 

"  '  In  the  work  of  demolition  commenced  for  the 
opening  of  a  new  street  which  is  to  join  the  Sorbonne 
to  the  Pantheon,  and  the  Ecole  de  Droit,  traversing 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  177 

the  Rue  des  Ores  up  to  the  old  church  which  has 
successively  been  used  as  a  school  and  barracks,  at 
the  extremity  of  a  piece  of  ground  where  once  stood 
a  public  ball  room,  is  a  wood  and  charcoal  yard, 
bounded  by  a  dwelling  house,  one  story  high,  with 
lofts.  It  is  this  house,  standing  at  a  certain  distance 
from  the  street,  and  separated  from  the  adjoining 
buildings  now  in  course  of  demolition  by  the  large 
excavations  of  the  old  enclosure  wall  of  Paris  con- 
structed under  Philippe  Auguste,  laid  open  by  the 
works,  which  every  evening  and  all  night  is  assailed 
by  a  shower  of  projectiles,  which,  from  their  size,  and 
the  violence  with  which  they  are  hurled,  produce  such 
havoc,  that  the  windows  are  smashed,  the  doors 
broken  open,  altogether  presenting  the  appearance  of 
a  place  that  has  been  attacked  by  the  catapula,  or 
grape  shot. 

"  '  Whence  come  these  projectiles,  consisting  of 
paving  stones,  fragments  of  ruins,  huge  blocks,  which, 
considering  their  weight  and  the  distance  they  come 
from,  evidently  could  not  be  hurled  by  the  hand  of 
man?  This  is  what  it  has  been  impossible  to  find 
out.  In  vain  has  been  exercised,  under  the  personal 
direction  of  the  commissary  of  police  and  able  agents, 
a  surveillance,  by  day  and  night.  In  vain  have  been 
let  loose  every  night,  in  the  surrounding  enclosures, 
watch  dogs.  Nothing  has  been  able  to  explain  the 
phenomenon,  which,  in  their  credulity,  the  people  at- 
tribute to  mysterious  causes.  The  projectiles  have 
continued  showering  down  with  a  crash  on  the  house, 
hurled  at  a  great  height  above  the  heads  of  those 
placed  on  the  lookout,  even  on  the  roofs  of  the  neigh- 
boring houses,  apparently  coming  from  a  great  dis- 
tance, and  reaching  their  object  with  a  precision  in 


178  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

some  sort  mathematical,  not  one  appearing  to  deviate 
in  its  parabolic  course  from  the  object  invariably 
aimed  at. 

"  *  We  will  not  go  into  more  ample  details  respect- 
ing these  facts,  which,  no  doubt-,  (thanks  to  the  solici- 
tude it  has  awakened,)  will  soon  be  accounted  for. 
Already  the  inquiry  extends  over  whatsoever  could 
attach,  in  this  object,  to.  the  explanation  of  the  adage, 
Cui  prodest  is  auctor.  Nevertheless,  we  wnli  remark 
that,  in  circumstances  somewhat  analogous,  and 
which  equally  created  a  certain  sensation  in  Paris, 
when,  for  instance,  a  shower  of  small  pieces  of  money 
attracted  every  evening  the  simpletons  of  Paris  to 
the  Rue  de  Montesquieu,  or  when  all  the  bells  of  a 
house  in  Rue  de  Malte  were  set  going  by  an  invisible 
hand,  it  was  impossible  to  succeed  in  any  discovery 
— r  to  find  an  explanation,  a  first  cause,  whatever  it 
might  be.  Let  us  hope  that,  this  time,  we  shall  arrive 
at  a  more  precise  result.* 

"  The  Repnblique  of  the  4th  of  February  con- 
tinues: 'The  Gazette  des  Tribunaux  still  speaks  of 
the  famous  war  machine,  so  formidable,  and  above 
all  so  mysterious^  which  sets  in  commotion  the  in- 
habitants of  the  quarter  Saint  Jaques.' 

"  To-day  this  paper  says,  '  The  singular  fact  of 
throwing  projectiles  against  the  house  of  a  dealer  in 
wood  and  charcoal,  Rue  Nueva  de  Cluny,  near  the 
Place  du  Pantheon,  has  continued  being  reproduced 
up  to  this  very  day,  despite  the  incessant  surveillance 
exercised  on  the  very  spot. 

" '  At  eleven  o'clock,  although  agents  were  stationed 
at  all  the  adjacent  points,  an  enormous  stone  struck 
against  the  door  (barricaded)  of  the  house.  At  three 
o'clock,  the    chief,   ad   interim^  of  the  safety  service, 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  179 

and  five  or  six  of  his  principal  subordinates,  being 
busily  engaged  in  making  inquiries  concerning  differ- 
ent circumstances  of  the  occupiers  of  the  house,  an 
immense  rough  stone  fell  shivering  at  their  feet,  like 
the  bursting^  of  a  bomb.' 

"  Without  commenting  on  this  singular  affair,  we 
hasten  to  an  extract  of  a  letter  from  Colonel  Roger  to 
Cahagnet :  '  Before  returning  to  Paris,  and  while  I 
was  still  residing  at  Nantes,  those  who  received  me 
at   a  later    period    into   the    bosom    of  their   society, 

which  was  presided  over  by  M.  Pi ,  a  gentleman 

of  extraordinary  scientific  attainments,  (it  was  he  who 

magnetized  Ad- ,)  assembled   one   evening  at   M. 

Pi 's  to  take  part  in  a  ceremony  relative  to  occult 

pursuits.     M.  Pi—- —  sent  Ad to  sleep,  and  each 

member  sat  down  on  the  floor,  each  having  at  his 
feet,  and  right  in  front  of  him,   a   lamp,  the  wick  of 

which   was    burning   in   alcohol.     M.   Pi having 

first  called  down  the  blessing  of  God  on  those  present, 
the  ceremony  commenced.  Scarcely,  however,  had  it 
begun,  than  shrill  cries,  immoderate  laughter,  and  hor- 
rible hissing  resounded  in  the  room.  The  lamps  were 
quickly  extinguished,  and,  on  all  sides,  fell  pieces  of 
old  iron,  ba,rs  of  iron,  &c. ;  but  all  these  projectiles 
lodged  on  the  edge  of  the  circle,  without  striking  any 

one.     Forthwith  M.  Pi ,  armed  with  his  talisman, 

drove  out,  in  the  name  of  God,  these  evil  spirits,  who 
decamped,  leaving  us  their  projectiles.  This  fact 
responds  in  the  affirmative  to  the  question  you  ad- 
dress to  Swede nborg,  to  inquire  whether  evil  spirits 
could  create  disorder  in  a  room  by  displacing  and  up- 
setting the  furniture.  Swedenborg  affirmed  that  they 
could  do  so ;  and  I  have  just  given  you  a  proof  of  the 
truth  of  this  assertion.' " 


180  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

It  is  remarkable  that,  in  France,  mediums  all  agree 
that  the  spirits  which  tip  tables  and  move  furniture, 
are  all  evil  spirits;  while  here,  in  the  United  States, 
they  are  by  medium  disclosures  said  to  be  good  spirits. 
"  When  doctors  disagree,  who  shall  decide  "  ? 

It  appears  that  the  best  American  spirits  are  noth- 
ing but  French  devils,  such  as  stone  buildings  to 
pieces,  and  hurl  old  iron  and  iron  bars  at  people's 
heads,  tip  tables,  and  set  chairs  to  dancing.  Now, 
since  these  spirits  pretending  to  be  good  are  con- 
demning one  another,  it  is  certain  we  stand  in  need 
of  one  of  a  higher  order  to  teach  us  which  is  right. 
Such  a  Spirit  has  taught  us,  in  the  word  of  God,  that 
it  is  a  great  sin  to  seek  unto  those  who  pretend  to 
have  intercourse  with  the  spirits  of  the  dead. 

We  give  an  extract  from  the  same  writer  of  a  more 

accommodatijig  spirit  therein  described  :  "  M.  Rev , 

Sen.,  and  myself,  were  taking  a  walk  on  the  high 
road  of  a  town  in  Brittany.  On  entering  the  hotel, 
M.  Rev — —  perceived  that  he  had  lost  his  gold  seal, 
which    was    of    great    value.      After    dinner,    he    sent 

Ad to  sleep,  saying  to   her,  '  Call  such  a  spirit ; 

beg  him,  and  order  him,  if  need  be,  to  go  and  look 
for  my  seal  among  a  heap  of  stones  by  the  seaside, 
at  a  league's  distance  from  here.'  The  command 
was  scarcely  given,  when  the  spirit  delivered  the  seal 

to    Ad -,  who    said    to    M.    Rev ,  '  Thank    the 

spirit,  and  dismiss  him.'  "  This  is  doing  the  thing  in 
a  business  manner.  It  w^ould  save  the  expense  of 
board  and  wages  to  employ  such  spirits  for  waiters, 
servants,  &c.,  instead  of  those  visible  forms  of  ilesh 
and  blood.  We  give  the  contents  of  another  letter 
to  Cahagnet,  which  still  shows  how  much  further  the 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  181 

French   mesmerizers   are   advanced   than   the  Amer- 
ican :  — 

Monsieur:  From  the  appeal  you  make  in  your 
first  volume  of  the  "  Secrets  of  the  Life  to  come  re- 
vealed "  to  persons  who  may  have  any  facts  to  com- 
municate to  you  for  insertion  in  the  second  volume 
you  intend  publishing,  I  beg  to  respond  to  this  invi- 
tation in  the  interest,  be  it  understood,  of  the  occult 
sciences,  and  in  order  to  prove  to  you  that  I  have 
been  in  no  wise  astonished  at  the  contents  of  your 
boolf,  which  I  have  read  with  great  pleasure.  For- 
merly a  theatrical  artist,  I  devoted  myself  passion- 
ately to  the  study  of  cabalism,  as  offering,  by  its 
Studious  meditations,  a  counterpoise  to  the  lighter 
studies  of  the  theatre.  I  made  acquaintance  with  a 
society,  (of  madmen,  the  world  says ;  of  savans,  I 
reply,)  into  which  I  was  admitted,  not  wnthout  some 
difficulty.  To  tell  you  all  that  took  place  in  this  so- 
ciety all  the  time  I  was  a  member  of  it,  would  be  to 
undertake  a  work  in  three  volumes.  I  will  cite  one 
fact  out  of  a  thousand  similar  ones,  which  corresponds 
with  what  your  somnambulist  (Binet)  says  relative  to 
.  the  strength  and  power  of  spirits:  — 

The  chief  of  our  circle  possessed  a  small,  strong 
box,  about  a  foot  long,  and  ten  inches  wide,  and  six 
In  depth,  in  which  he  secured  very  valuable  articles. 
One  day  it  was  stolen  from  him.  He  was  in  great 
distress,  when  he  sent  to  sleep  a  young  man  vi'hom 
we  ordinarily  employed  at  our  sittings.  He  ques^ 
tioned  him  as  to  the  disappearance  of  the  box,  and 
begged  him  to  find  it.  He  went  further;  he  ordered 
the  spirit  who  habitually  came  at  our  call  to  bring 
16 


182  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

back  to  him  the  box.  The  somnambulist  was  lying 
on  the  bed,  which  was  at  the  farther  end  of  the  apart- 
ment, in  a  complete  state  of  catalepsy.  I  was  in  the 
middle  of  the  room  with  this  gentleman,  and  two 
other  gentlemen  of  the  name  of  Revole  —  father  and 
son.  The  clairvoyant  issued  a  command  —  told  us 
to  open  the  window,  which  I  did  instantly,  and  M. 
Picolet  beheld  arriving  the  precious  box,  which  he 
received  in  his  hands  at  the  moment  I  was  going  to 
take  it  myself.  We  saw  nothing  else,  and  were  no 
more  surprised  at  this  conveyance  than  we  were  at  all 
that  took  place  daily  before  our  eyes.  Yes,  Monsieur, 
a  spirit  can  convey  objects.  Write  this  in  my  name  ; 
say,  moreover,  that  I  am  seventy-eight  years  old,  and 
that  I  should  not,  at  such  an  age,  wish  to  be  a  mad- 
man, or  to  impose  on  my  fellow-men.  I  assure  you 
of  this  in  the  presence  of  the  divine  Power,  whom  I 
should  dread  ofliending,  if  I  fabricated  such  a  false- 
hood. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  Monsieurs,  &c,, 

BORDE. 

24  RxJE  Saint  Lauuent,  Belleville. 

This  is  mesmerism  worth  talking  about,  and  which 
leaves  American  mesmerism  so  far  in  the  rear  that 
it  is  scarcely  worth  mentiofiing.  W^hy,  our  Yankee 
mesmerizers  have  scarcely  learned  their  alphabet. 
When  they  get  so  as  to  produce  such  cases  by  the 
thousand,  and  think  no  more  of  them  than  of  any 
ordinary  daily  occurrences,  they  will  be  ashamed  of  a 
little  rapping,  table  tipping,  &c.,  and  will  then  see 
that  they  are  now  led  by  a  bungling  set  of  clownish 
spirits. 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  183 


"THE  EASIEST  WAY  TO   ACCOUNT  FOR  IT." 

It  is  said  that  the  so  called  spiritual  phenomenon  is 
the  work  of  the  devil;  it  is  tauntingly  replied  by  the 
advocates  of  spiritualism  that  it  is  through  ignorance 
and  superstition,  and  saves  the  trouble  of  thinking, 
and  is  the  easiest  way  for  the  ignorant  to  account  for 
it;  and  that  it  is  the  usual  charge  brought  against 
any  thing  wonderful  and  not  generally  understood, 
such  as  the  facility  with  which  Faust  multiplied 
books  by  type  was  by  the  aid  of  the  devil.  And 
this  mode  of  accounting  for  the  wonderful  tends  to 
envelop  in  mystery  and  check  the  progress  of  sci- 
ence. But  it  is  evident  this  charge  lies  with  equal 
weight  against  those  who  prefer  it.  They  say  it  is 
the  work  of  spirits  ;  and  those  against  whom  it  is 
preferred  say  it  is  the  work  of  evil  spirits,  or  devils. 
Now,  which  is  the  easier  way  of  accounting  for  it? 
or  which  betrays  the  more  ignorance  or  credulity,  or 
which  requires  the  less  thinking  ?  There  are  many 
ways  by  which  it  is  said  that  spirits  do  these  things; 
and  why  not  the  devil  do  them  in  the  same  way  ?  If 
the  existence  of  the  devil  be  denied,  the  existence  of 
the  spirits  of  the  dead  must  be  ;  for  nought  can  be 
appealed  to,  to  prove  the  existence  of  departed  spirits, 
that  will  not  abundantly  prove  the  existence  of  the 
devil.  For  every  evidence  that  can  be  given  of  the 
existence  of  departed  spirits,  (aside  from  the  pretended 
spirits  themselves,)  the  author  holds  himself  in  read- 
iness to  give  ten  of  the  existence  of  a  devil  or  devils. 


184  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 


CHAPTER    XII. 

OKIGIN  OF  MESMERISM.  —  MEDIUMS  AMONG  THE  NORTH 
AMERICAN  INDIANS.— MESMERISM  KNOWN  TO  NAA- 

MAN. 

Dr.  Newman,  in  his  "  Philosophy  of  Charming," 
says,  "  Adam  was  perfectly  aware  of  the  power  of 
fascination,  together  with  clairvoyance  and  those 
other  mysteries  that  astonish  so  much  the  people  of 
the  present  day."  His  argument  in  support  of  it 
appears  to  be  drawm  from  the  eccentric  flights  of  John 
Banyan  in  describing  his  city  of  Mansoul;  that 
while  our  first  parents  remained  obedient  to  their 
Maker  they  held  familiar  converse  with  superior 
beings,  through  mesmerism,  clairvoyance,  &c.,  and 
that  they  lost  that  faculty  by  swearing  allegiance  to 
Diabolus,  after  whicli  the  faculty  was  unknown,  ex- 
cept upon  extraordinary  occasions,  by  which  it  is 
evident  he  means  the  subsequent  prophets.  Admit 
this,  and  it  follows  that  man  was  created  in  a  clair- 
voyant state,  or,  in  the  Scripture  term,  the  prophetic 
state ;  and  as  he  held  this  state  as  long  as  he  was 
obedient  to  God,  and  lost  it  in  consequence  of  dis- 
obedience, it  follows  that  he  can  regain  it  only  by 
returning  to  his  former  primal,  obedient  state.  But 
this  is  not  a  fact  with  regard  to  our  present  clairvoy- 
ants and  mediums.  It  is  not  pretended  that  holiness 
of  heart  is  requisite  to  become  a  medium  ;  on  the 
contrary,  the  wicked  are  good  mediums. 

Again :  the  same  author  admits  that  the  serpent 
practises  the  same  art  or  power  in  charming  his  prey. 


OPPOSITION     LINE.  185 

Now,  what  did  he  do  to  our  first  parents,  to  induce 
them  to  "  swear  allegiance  to  Diabolus,"  but  to  mes- 
merize or  charm  them.  If  he  mesmerized  them,  they 
were  not  in  a  mesmeric  state  before;  and  if  they  were 
created  in  a  mesmeric  state,  the  serpent  de-mesmer- 
ized them.  Yet  the  same  author  tells  us,  on  page  28, 
that  Satan  discovered  the  mode  of  mesmerism,  or 
rather  disclosed  to  man  the  fact  that  such  a  power 
existed.  "We  give  his  own  words,  as  follows :  "  I 
think  the  requisite  knowledge  was  imparted  by  Satan 
himself,  either  in  a  direct  manner,  or  by  prompting 
the  mind  to  a  series  of  experiments  that  led  to  the 
discovery.  He  did  this  to  increase  his  influence,  so 
that  a  chosen  few,  on  whom  he  could  depend,  might 
guide  the  many  in  the  ways  of  destruction.  Proof 
of  this,  I  think,  can  be  found  in  the  fact  naturally 
abhorrent  to  humanity,  (for  man  has  been  defined  to 
be  a  religious  animal,)  that  all  barbarous  nations  pay 
more  homage  to  the  spirit  of  evil  than  they  do  to  the 
spirit  of  good ;  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  their  rites 
of  worship  are  of  the  most  revolting  and  bloodthirsty 
descriptions  —  extreme  licentiousness  characterizing 
their  devotions,  as  well  as  suspension  by  hooks,  &c., 
and  murder  of  infants  and  adults." 

If  Satan  imparted  the  knowledge  of  its  existence, 
Adam  could  have  had  no  knowledge  of  it  until  his 
interview  with  the  serpent ;  and  the  prophets  of  old, 
being  mediums,  owed  their  prophetic  faculty  to  the 
discovery  of  Satan  himself.  This  is  the  most  un- 
lucky game  he  ever  played ;  for  the  old  prophets 
every  where  condemn  him,  and  those  who  have  any 
thing  to  do  with  him  or  his  discoveries.  We  presume 
he  has  seen  the  evil  of  it,  and  has  become  convinced 
of  his  own  folly,  and  has  since  withheld  the  discovery 
16* 


186  THE    SPrRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

from  good  and  honest  men,  and  imparted  it  to 
men  of  another  sort,  who  never  upbraid  him  for  his 
wickedness. 

This  appears  ahiiost  the  unavoidable  conclusion, 
since  the  advocates  of  mesmerism  contend  that  the 
prophets  were  under  the  influence  of  mesmerism  ;  but 
it  is  evident  they  were  not  under  it  when  not  obedi- 
ent to  God.  This  appears  evident  in  the  case  of 
Saul :  though  not  called  a  prophet,  yet,  while  he  w^as 
doing  the  will  of  God,  the  Lord  answered  him  when 
he  inquired  of  him.  But  when  he  became  so  wicked 
that  the  Lord  answered  him  not,  "  neither  by  dreams, 
nor  by  Urim,  nor  by  the  prophets,"  he  had  recourse  to 
mesmerism  ™  to  the  medium  of  Endor.  Now,  noth- 
ing can  be  more  evident  than  that  the  prophets  were 
not  under  the  same  influence  that  the  witch  was ;  for, 
had  they  been,  they  would  have  answered  Saul  as 
well  as  she.  But  Samuel  said  to  Saul,  "  Why  hast 
thou  disquieted  me  to  bring  me  up  ?  And  Saul 
answered,  I  am  sore  distressed ;  for  the  Philistines 
make  war  against  me,  and  God  is  departed  from  me, 
and  answereth  me  no  more,  neither  by  prophets  nor 
by  dreams  ;  therefore  I  have  called  thee,  that  thou 
mayest  make  known  unto  me  what  I  shall  do.  Then 
said  Samuel,  Wherefore  then  dost  thou  ask  of  me, 
seeing  the  Lord  is  departed  from  thee,  and  is  become 
thine  enemy  ?  "     (1  Sam.  xxviii.  15,  16.) 

Here  it  is  evident  Samuel  intended  to  represent  to 
Saul  it  was  wrong  for  him  even  to  seek  unto  a 
prophet  through  a  medium,  because  God  had  de- 
parted from  him,  which,  had  it  not  been  so,  the 
prophet  might  have  answered  him.  Now,  in  what- 
ever light  we  consider  this  account,  whether  Samuel 
really  appeared  to  the  witch  or  not.  one  thing  is  clear: 


^  OPPOSITION    LINE.  187 

it  shows  the  popular  opinion  of  that  age ;  that  is,  that 
it  was  a  wicked  thing  to  resort  to  a  medium,  and  only 
necessary  as  a  last  resort,  when  the  Spirit  of  God  is 
withdrawn  from  one  who  is  abandoned  to  wickedness 
and  on  the  eve  of  destruction.  In  either  case,  it 
plainly  proves  that,  at  that  age,  the  prophets  and 
mediums,  as  they  are  now  called,  were  two  very 
different  characters.  One  was  approved  of  God,  and 
the  other  condemned. 

Dr.  Newman  further  remarks,  "  It  may  be  well  to 
mention,  in  this  connection,  the  fact  that  savage 
nations,  generally,  practise  fascination.  They  rub  or 
pat  one  another  when  fatigued,  and  it  refreshes.  The 
wife  of  one  of  the  Sandwich  Island  missionaries,  on 
a  visit  to  this  country  some  years  ago,  exclaimed,  on 
returning  from  a  long  and  tiresome  walk  which  had 
completely  exhausted  her  strength,  '  If  I  was  home, 
the  native  women,  by  patting  me,  would  soon  give  me 
complete  relief  from  this  weariness,  and  make  me  feel 
^*^s  lively  as  ever.'  The  rites  and  gestures  of  savage 
magicians,  the  medicine  men  of  the  wilds,  over  their 
patients,  which  so  much  alarm  travellers,  are  nothing 
more  than  fascinating  passes  to  cure  disease  —  a 
method,  too,  that  very  generally  succeeds."  John  W. 
Jewett  represents  this  practice  as  being  common 
among  the  Indians  of  Nootka  Sound.  It  was  also 
known  to  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  among  which  there 
were  some  excellent  clairvoyants.  It  must  have  been 
known,  too,  to  the  Indians  farther  south.  Many 
years  since,  a  company  of  fur  traders  proceeded  far 
up  the  country  of  the  Red  River,  when,  to  facilitate 
business,  two  of  them  parted  from  their  companions, 
and  arrived  at  the  head  of  a  lake  to  await  the  arrival 
of  those  behind,  who  were  expected  to  come  up  the 


188 


THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 


lake  in  a  canoe.  But  day  after  day  passed,,  and  they 
heard  nothing  from  them.  Growing  alarmed  for  their 
safety,  the  chief  of  the  tribe  told  them  he  had  a  man 
who  would  tell  them  all  abouttheir  companions.  The 
man  was  at  length  sent  for,  and,  being  laid  upon  a 
buffalo  skin,  was  rubbed  from  head  to  foot,  and  then 
rolled  up  in  the  skin.  After  a  while  he  seemed  to 
revive,  and,  being  unrolled,  said  he  had  not  been  in- 
formed w^hen  the  other  traders  would  arrive ;  but 
to-morrow,  about  this  time,  a  canoe  would  be  seen 
coming  up  the  lake,  with  two  Indians  in  it,  and  they 
would  tell  all  about  the  other  traders.  This  proved 
to  be  true,  upon  which  the  traders  were  utterly  aston- 
ished. But  at  the  present  time,  no  one  can  doubt 
this  being  a  fair  specimen  of  mesmerism,  attended 
with  clairvoyance.  Speaking  of  the  heathen  magi. 
Dr.  Newman  remarks,  "  Some  of  them  possessed  this 
power  in  so  extraordinary  a  degree,  and  had  their  fame 
so  widely  extended,  as  to  be  deified  after  death  ;  having 
idol  statues  shaped  in  their  likeness,  to  which  divine 
honors  were  paid,  the  qualities  for  which  they  were 
thus  honored  being  symbolized  by  additional  arms. 
Proofs  of  this  may  be  seen  at  the  present  day  in  the 
images  of  the  gods  of  India.  Vichenow,  Chivan, 
Parchivan,  Ravenna,  and  many  others,  have  four,  six, 
and  twelve  arms,  all  presenting  the  hands  open,  with 
the  palms  inclining  downwards,  the  fingers  being  in 
the  most  approved  fascinating  positions  of  the  present 
day." 

Antony  Pluche  thus  describes  the  process  of  ancient 
Egyptian  magnetism,  as  practised  upwards  of  three 
thousand  years  ago  :  "  A  patient  is  stretched  upon  a 
couch,  while  a  large  anubis  is  painted,  in  the  act  of 
making  passes  over  him,  with  one  hand  raised  above 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  189 

his  head,  and  the  other  placed  upon  his  breast.  And 
Celsus,  a  philosopher  who  lived  in  the  first  century 
after  Christ,  speaks  of  a  physician  of  ancient  Chaldea, 
who  soothed  the  ravings  of  the  insane  by  manipula- 
1;ipns  ;  and  adds,  that,  when  continued  for  a  long  time, 
produced  sleep." 

That  mesmerism  w^as  known  to  the  ancients,  appears 
also  from  the  Scriptures.  We  refer  the  reader  to  the 
case  of  Naaman,  the  leper.     (2  Kings  v.) 

When  Elisha,  the  man  of  God,  commanded  him  to 
go  and  wash  seven  times  in  the  River  Jordan,  he  was 
wroth,  and  said,  "  Behold,  I  thought  he  will  surely 
come  out  to  me,  and  stand,  and  call  on  the  name  of 
the  Lord  his  God,  and  strike  his  hands  (move  his 
hands  up  and  down,  margin)  over  the  place,  and 
recover  the  leper." 

Naaman  was  certainly  acquainted  with  the  practice 
of  curing  diseases  by  manipulations  (moving  the 
hands  up  and  down)  as  then  practised  by  the  hea- 
then, and  took  Elisha  to  be  some  great  manipulator, 
or,  as  w^e  should  say  at  the  present  time,  a  great  mes-* 
merizer.  But  when  he  saw  the  prophet  did  not  work 
by  such  means  as  he  expected,  neither  even  come  out 
to  meet  him,  he  felt  that  his  dignity  was  wounded,  and 
he  turned  away  in  a  rage.  But  being  persuaded  by 
his  servant,  he  went  and  washed,  and  was  cleansed  of 
his  leprosy,  and  returned  to  the  man  of  God,  and 
acknowledged  the  God  of  Israel,  and  offered  to  pay 
the  prophet.  This  the  prophet  refused,  for  those  who 
work  a  miracle  by  the  power  of  the  God  of  Israel 
never  charge  any  thing  for  it,  but  ascribe  the  honor 
and  the  power  unto  God,  and  not  to  electricity  or 
mesmerism.     There  is  no  want  of  evidence  that  this 


190  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

pKOwer  was  known  in  former  times.  We  give  the  fol- 
lowing from  William  E.  Blakeney  :  — 

"  We  have  also  more  exhibitions  of  this  power  de- 
veloped under  the  character  of  an  angel  of  light.  It 
will  be  recollected  that,  in  the  year  1688,  there  were 
many  persons  who  assumed  the  name  of  '  French 
prophets,'  and  professed  a  divine  inspiration  ;  and, 
like  all  of  their  predecessors,  as  well  as  successors, 
they  claimed  the  power  or  gift  of  healing,  of  speaking 
with  tongues,  of  the  discerning  of  spirits,  which  was 
administered  by  the  laying  on  of  hands  and  willing 
it  to  be  done.  These  prophets  not  only  had  power 
over  demons,  but  also  of  casting  out  evil  spirits. 
They  also  had  their  '  clairvoyance,'  although  called 
by  a  different  name.  Hence  the  '  clairvoyant '  state 
with  them  was  called  '  the  trance,'  in  which  condition 
the  mind  was  said  to  expand  and  take  its  flight  to 
the  'celestial  regions;'  then,  if  put  in  communi- 
cation with  another  person,  would  describe  precisely 
as  in  mesmerism.  In  the  year  1706,  a  number  of 
these  prophets  sailed  to  England,  and  commenced 
their  mysterious  exhibitions  there.  The  influence 
which  they  exerted  became  irresistible,  and  the 
'  magic  charm '  soon  won  over  some  three  or  four 
hundred  in  and  about  London." 

We  have  also  another  demonstration  of  this  power 
under  the  character  of  divinity.  I  refer  to  the  cel- 
ebrated Ann  Lee,  the  last  false  Christ  who  has  flour- 
ished. She  succeeded  in  deluding  thousands,  and 
supported  her  claims  to  Messiahship  by  performing 
astonishing  miracles,  and  speaking  in  unknown 
tongues. 

Now,  that  these  different  characters  did  perform 
feats  of  a  precise  similar  nature  to  those  of  mesmer- 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  191 

ism,  is  an  admitted  fact.  Their  claims  were  similar, 
and,  indeed,  perfectly  parallel ;  and  the  same  power 
which  sustained  and  gave  life  to  the  one,  also  pre- 
sided over  the  other.  And  if  their  phenomena  were 
the  result  of  "  science,"  the  advocates  of  mesmerism 
will  in  justice  claim  the  same  ;  but  if  they  were,  in 
fact,  "  false  Christs,"  laboring  under  a  satanic  influ- 
ence, the  doctrine  of  mesmerism  should  be  accounted 
for  on  the  same  principles.  To  the  same  influence 
may  be  referred  "  the  visions  of  Ellen  White."  She 
represents  herself  as  going  into  the  state  of  trance, 
nearly  in  the  same  manner  as  the  French  mediums,  in 
what  is  called,  in  mesmerism,  the  state  of  ecstasy. 
Both  pretend  to  make  disclosures  through  spiritual 
and  angelic  agencies.  The  mediums  call  these  "guar- 
dian spirits,"  and  Ellen  calls  them  her  "attending 
angels."  In  one  of  her  clairvoyant  excursions,  she 
saw  Enoch  on  a  social  visit  to  the  planet  Saturn. 

Notwithstanding  her  visions  are  in  many  respects 
discordant  to  the  word  of  God,  yet,  like  the  French 
prophets  and  those  of  Ann  Lee,  she  is  drawing  hun- 
dreds into  her  mesmeric  delusions.  But  since  her 
religion  does  not  admit  of  but  one  hundred  and  forty- 
four  thousand  disciples,  she  will  not  be  the  founder  of 
a  very  numerous  and  popular  sect. 

In  another  vision,  she  was  admitted  into  the  "  holy 
of  holies,"  (where  it  is  not  lawful  for  any  man  to 
enter  but  the  high  priest,)  and  there  saw  the  two 
tables  of  stone,  on  which  were  written  the  ten  com- 
mandments, the  fourth  of  which  shone  w^ith  more 
glory  than  all  the  others. 

Let  us  try  this  vision  by  the  word  of  God.  Matt, 
xxii.  37,  "Jesus  said  unto  him,  Thou  shalt  love  the 
Lord  thy  God  with   all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy 


192  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind.  This  is  the  first  and 
great  conimandment.  And  the  second  is  like  unto  it, 
Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  On  these 
two  hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets."  Our  Savior 
attaches  the  most  glory  and  importance  to  the  first 
and  second  commandments  instead  of  the  fourth. 
The  followers  of  Ellen  make  the  keeping  of  the 
seventh  day  the  end  of  the  law  and  seal  of  the  living 
God ;  while  the  word  of  God  makes  the  end  of  the 
commandment  "charity  out  of  a  pure  heart;"  and 
the  seal  of  the  living  God  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise, 
or  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  •  (Eph.  i.  13  ;  iv.  30.  1  Tim. 
i.  5—7.)  Now,  the  end  of  the  commandment  is  char- 
ity out  of  a  pure  heart,  and  of  a  good  conscience, 
and  of  faith  unfeigned,  from  which  some,  having 
swerved,  have  turned  aside  unto  vain  jangling,  de- 
siring to  be  teachers  of  the  law ;  understanding 
neither  what  they  say,  nor  whereof  they  affirm. 

A  remarkable  instance  of  the  fulfilment  of  Scrip- 
ture is  found  in  tins  text,  in  the  believers  of  these 
visions.  They  are  vain  janglers,  and  set  themselves 
up  as  teachers  of  the  law,  understanding  neither 
what  they  say,  nor  whereof  they  affirm  ;  preaching  a 
new  gospel,  said  to  be  given  to  the  third  angel,  but  un- 
known to  Paul,  who  says,  "  But  though  we,  or  an  angel 
from  heaven,  preach  any  other  gospel  unto  you  than 
that  ye  have  received,  let  him  be  accursed."  The  end 
of  all  mesmeric  revelation  appears  to  be  "  a  new  doc- 
trine ;  "  "a  new  light ;  "  some  other  way  to  be  saved 
than  by  that  revealed  in  the  Scriptures.  Those  who 
have  but  little  regard  for  the  holy  religion  of  Christ 
are,  by  mesmeric  disclosures,  easily  persuaded  to 
abajidon  all  forms  of  godliness  ;  while  others,  having 
more  regard  for  it,  are  as  easily  persuaded  to  adopt 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  193 

that  form  of  godliness  which  most  denies  the  power 
thereof. 

Mesmerism,  as  we  have  seen,  is  a  strange  delusion. 
It  accommodates  itself  to  every  one's  preferred  opin- 
ions, and  proves  every  one's  theory.  So  the  man  who 
is  irreligious  is  easily  deceived  by  the  most  flagrant 
irreligious  disclosures;  while  he  who  is  religious  is  as 
easily  deceived  by  a  false  religion.  So,  in  one  or 
two  ways,  the  devil  is  very  successful  in  leading  peo- 
ple away  from  truth  and  God,  either  directly  in  lead- 
ing them  to  discard  all  religion,  or  zealously  to  em- 
brace a  false  one  ;  either  answ^ers  his  purpose  as  well 
as  the  other,  and  both  are  effected  by  the  almighty 
lever  of  mesmerism  or  spiritual  disclosures. 

But  since  we  are  so  easily  led  into  the  delusion,  the 
question  may  be  asked.  How  are  we  to  avoid  it? 
"  Submit  yourselves,  therefore,  to  God.  Resist  the 
devil,  and  he  will  flee  from  you.  Draw  nigh  to  God, 
and  he  will  draw  nigh  to  you.  Cleanse  your  hands, 
ye  sinners,  and  purify  your  hearts,  ye  double  minded." 
(James  iv.  7,  8.)  We  do  not  sufficiently  resist  the 
devil.  But,  says  one.  How  are  we  to  know  what  is 
of  the  devil  ?  "  Draw  nigh  to  God,  and  he  will  draw 
nigh  to  you."  Our  error  lies  in  not  living  near  to 
God.  "We  first  withdraw  ourselves  from  him  ;  he 
then  forsakes  us,  as  he  did  Saul,  and  we  arc  left, 
through  evil  influences,  to  seek  a  ne%o  revelation,  a 
new  doctrine,  a  new  "  seal  of  the  living  God,"  and, 
finally,  a  new  plan  of  salvation.  The  moment  a  man 
gives  heed  to  any  revelation  except  tiie  Scriptures, 
that  moment  he  gives  evidence  of  having  fallen  from 
grace,  (if  he  ever  had  any  to  fall  from,)  and  is  on  the 
road  to  ruin.  Paul  says  to  Timothy,  "  All  Scripture 
is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for 
17 


194  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in 
righteousness  :  that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect, 
thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works."  (2  Tim. 
iii.  16,  17.) 

To  listen  to  any  other  revelation  is  saying,  in  the 
heart,  the  Scripture  is  not  sufficient  to  furnish  us  unto 
all  good  works,  and  with  a  forbidden  double  minded- 
ness  to  seek  unto  both  God  and  man  "  for  doctrine, 
for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteous- 
ness." 

It  is  not  for  any  good  work  that  we  need  a  rev- 
elation of  J.  Davis  or  Ellen  White  ;  for  the  Scripture 
is  a  sufficient  furniture  for  the  man  of  God,  that  he 
may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good 
works.  But  it  may  be  asked,  Shall  we  not  listen  to 
the  spirit  as  well  as  to  the  word  ?  The  word  and  the 
spirit  can  no  more  be  divided  than  the  "  living  child;  " 
they  are  inseparably  united.  But,  "  Beloved,  believe 
not  every  spirit,  but  try  the  spirits  whether  they  are 
of  God ;  because  many  false  prophets  (lying  spirits) 
have  gone  out  into  the  world."  (1  John  iv.  1.)  "  To 
the  law  and  to  the  testimony :  if  they  speak  not 
according  to  this  word,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light 
in  them." 

The  root  of  most  false  doctrines  is  rejecting  the 
word  of  God,  and  cleaving  to  the  spirit  alone ;  thus 
putting  asunder  what  God  has  joined  together,  where- 
by we  insult  God,  and  provoke  him  to  withdraw  his 
Holy  Spirit,  and  leave  us  to  follow  the  lying  spirits 
which  have  gone  out  into  the  world. 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  195 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

THE  NEW  AGENT.— 0X>  FORCE,    OR  MUNDANE  AGEN- 
CY.  —  DEDUCTIONS. 

We  shall  speak  of  this  agent  as  we  find  it  in  "  The 
Philosophy  of  Mysterious  Rappings."  Not  intending 
a  formal  review  of  that  interesting  work,  we  shall 
merely  glance  at  the  underpinning  of  the  author's 
superstructure,  regretting,  at  the  same  time,  that  an 
opportunity  does  not  present  itself  for  a  more  extended 
investigation,  as  that  work  did  not  come  to  hand 
until  this  had  gone  to  the  Stereotype  Foundry. 

Dr.  Rogers,  the  author  of  the  work  referred  to, 
seems  to  have  departed  a  little  from  the  popular 
opinion  concerning  the  real  difference  between  man 
and  the  lower  order  of  animals.  A  still  further  de- 
parture would  be  in  greater  harmony  with  facts  —  the 
true  principles  of  sound  philosophy  and  divine  rev- 
elation. He  seems  to  admit  that  the  latter  have  a 
kind  of  spirituality  in  common  with  the  former.  If 
so,  we  question  whether  he  has  found  the  true  differ- 
ence in  their  spiritualities  ;  or  rather,  whether  he  has 
found  what  true  spiritualism  is.     (See  pp.  131-133.) 

Volumes  have  been  written,  pretending  to  show  the 
nature  of  man  and  his  spiritual  relation  to  God,  by 
writers  who  either  know  but  little  of  the  subject,  or 
else  have  become  wise  above  what  is  written ;  and 
since  this  seems  to  be  a  chief  corner  stone  in  almost 
every  mesmeric  building,  we  cannot  do  better  than  to 
give   in  *this   place   the   language   of  the   wise   man 


1^6  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

concerning  the  difference  between  man  and  beast. 
Eccl.  iii.  18-21,  "  I  said  in  mine  heart  concerning  the 
estate  of  the  sons  of  men,  that  God  might  manifest 
them,  and  that  they  might  see  that  they  themselves 
are  beasts."  Or,  as  the  original  is,  "  I  said  in  my 
heart  concerning  the  sons  of  (anosheem)  mortals,  that 
God  would  (borah)  search  them,  and  show  to  them 
that  they  are  like  the  beasts." 

"  For  that  which  befalleth  the  sons  of  men  befalleth 
beasts ;  even  one  thing  befalleth  them  :  as  the  one 
dieth,  so  dieth  the  other ;  yea,  they  have  all  one 
{ruah,  spirit)  breath ;  so  that  a  man  hath  no  preem- 
inence above  a  beast ;  for  all  is  vanity.  All  go  unto 
one  place  ;  all  are  of  the  dust,  and  all  turn  to  dust 
again.  Who  knoweth  the  (ruah)  spirit  of  man  that 
goeth  upward,  and  the  (ruah)  spirit  of  the  beast  that 
goeth  downward  to  the  earth  ?  "  Notice  that  man 
and  beast  both  possess  the  same  ruah;  and  Solomon 
says,  "  That  which  befalleth  the  sons  of  men  befall- 
eth beasts  ; "  and  the  author  referred  to,  in  his  in- 
troduction (forty-seventh  paragraph)  says,  "  That  cer- 
tain animals  below  man  have  been  known  to  be 
clairvoyant."  So  far  he  agrees  with  the  wise  man. 
But  the  question  is,  Is  clairvoyance  and  divine  rev- 
elation one  and  the  same  thing  ?  If  so,  beasts  have 
their  prophets  among  them  as  well  as  men.  If  they 
have  not,  revelation  is  from  one  source,  and  clairvoy- 
ance from  another;  and  if  divine  revelation  is  a  gen- 
uine coin  from  the  mint  of  heaven,  clairvoyance  must 
be  a  counterfeit ;  or,  in  other  words,  if  one  is  from  a 
holy  being,  the  other  is  from  an  unholy  being.  We 
see  no  way  to  avoid  this  conclusion  ;  but  as  we  shall 
have  occasion,  before  closing  this  chapter,  to  refer  to 
this  part  of  the  subject  again,  we  here  introduce  his 


OPPOSITION     LINE.  197 

own    language,    commencing    on    page    26    of    his 
work  :  — 

"  40.  We  have  now  arrived  at  a  point  of  grand 
importance  to  be  recognized  throughout  this  work, 
namely,  that  whatever  external  physical  agent  can 
be  made  to  act  upon  the, internal  human  organism^  will 

MODIFY  THE  ACTION,  CONSEQUENTLY  THE  PHENOMENA, 
OF  THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AGENT. 

"  This  proposition,  startling  as  it  may  appear  at 
first  view,  is,  nevertheless,  susceptible  of  the  strongest 
demonstration.  The  case  of  every  invalid  exemplifies 
it.  The  pathogenetic  action  of  nearly  every  drug  in 
nature  proves  it. 

"  41.  It  follows,  therefore,  from  what  has  already 
been  shown,  that,  whenever  the  normal  condition  of 
the  organism  is  changed,  so  as  to  allow  of  the  influx 
of  agencies  from  the  external  world,  the  psychological 
agent  will  become  more  or  less  modified  in  its  action, 
and  removed  from  its  normal  standard. 

"  For  example :  innumerable  invalids  are  hopeful 
or  sad,  irascible  or  kindly  affectioned,  according  to  the 
dynamic  condition  of  external  bodies  and  the  sur- 
rounding atmosphere.  This  susceptibility  of  the 
psychological  agent  to  modifying  influences  is  not 
only  seen  with  regard  to  the  action  of  the  general 
dynamics  of  the  earth,  but  w^ith  regard  to  the  specific 
psychological  influence  of  surrounding  persons. 

"  42.  Nay,  this  influence  or  agency  on  the  one 
hand,  and  susceptible  passiveness  on  the  other,  are  so 
great,  in  some  instances,  as  to  produce  a  total  change 
in  the  sense  of  personal  identity  ;  so  that  individ- 
uals have  been  known  to  identify  themselves  with  the 
Deity,  with  Christ,  a  toad,  a  stone. 

"  43.  It  is  a  serious  question  here,  if  that  is  an 
17* 


1^8  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

immortal  nature  which  is  so  susceptible  of  vital  change, 
which  can  lose  so  readily  its  own  sense  of  identity  for 
that  of  another. 

"We  have  now  arrived  at  that  question  which,  of 
all  others,  is  the  most  important  to  man,  and  which 
will  frequently  be  brought  to  view  in  the  body  of  this 
work. 

"  44.  Man  presents  to  himself  two  classes  of  phe- 
nomena :  firsts  those  which  he  determines  as  a  self- 
conscious,  self-reasoning,  self-governing  agent;  sec- 
ond^ those  which  he  does  not  determine,  and  are 
without  his  own  control ;  w^hich,  moreover,  he  finds 
himself,  under  certain  circumstances,  forced  to  develop 
even  against  his  will  and  the  dictates  of  his  reason. 

"  Now,  here  are  either  two  distinct  agencies  at 
work,  totally  unlike  one  another,  and  in  direct  oppo- 
sition, or  the  two  opposite  classes  of  phenomena  are 
the  action  of  the  same  agent  in  direct  opposition  to 
itself  To  assume  the  latter,  may  serve  to  sustain  the 
false  philosophy  which  has  obtained  for  centuries ; 
but  this  w^ill  make  us  no  wiser  in  regard  to  ourselves. 

"45.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  man  has 
always  been  regarded  as  an  anomalous  being,  —  the 
only  enigma  of  nature,  —  with  regard  to  whom  more 
theories  have  been  written  than  of  all  the  rest  of 
creation  beside,  but  without  the  addition  of  scarcely  a 
ray  of  light  in  a  century. 

"46.  Man  has  always  confounded  his  animal  with 
his  highest  nature  ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  he  has 
looked  upon  the  animal  as  entirely  destitute  of  a 
spirituality.  Some  persons,  however,  have  found 
themselves  forced  to  regard  sotne  animals  as  possess- 
ing  immortal   spirits,   inasmuch    as   they  find    them 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  190 

possessed    of  certain    powers  which    they    regard    in 
themselves  as  spiritual.     Thus  they  reason  :  — 

"  All  thinking  beings  are  spiritual  beings. 

"  Certain  animals,  in  common  with  man,  are  think- 
ing beings  ;  such  animals  are,  then,  spiritual,  in  com- 
mon with  man.     Again:  — 

"  47.  All  beings  who  possess  the  powers  of  clair- 
voyance  must  be  spiritual  beings ;  for  clairvoyant  power 
is,  beyond  all  doubt,  spiritual. 

"  Now,  certain  animals  below  man  have  been 
known  to  be  clairvoyant.  The  evidence  of  this  is 
indubitable. 

"  Such,  therefore,  must  be  spiritual  animals.  Once 
again  let  us  add, — 

"  48.  "  All  beings  that  have  affection  must  be  spir- 
itual, because  affection  is  a  spiritual  power. 

"  All  animals  have  more  or  less  affection  ;  therefore, 
all  animals  are  more  or  less  spiritual.     Finally, — 

"49.  The  psychological  nature  is  spiritual  and 
immortal.  It  is  in  itself  indestructible.  All  animals 
have  psychological  natures  in  common  with  man; 
therefore,  all  the  souls  of  animals,  in  common  with 
the  souls  of  men,  are  spiritual  and  immortal. 

"  50.  Now,  if  the  major  premises  in  these  syllogisms 
are  just,  the  minors  and  conclusions  are  not  to  be 
denied,  however  much  they  may  offend  our  pride  or 
taste.  Bears  and  bugs,  lions  and  lizards,  wolves  and 
weevils,  sea  monsters  and  land  serpents,  all  have 
psychological  natures,  or  sympathetic  susceptibilities. 
To  escape  these  absurdities,  flight  is  made  to  theory 
again,  and  it  is  supposed  that  the  psychological  na- 
ture which  man  possesses  in  common  with  the  animal 
is,  in  56>»ie  z/jaz/,  made  spiritual  and  immortal;  while 
that  of  the  animal  is  left  to  perish  with  the  death  of 


200  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

the  body.  But  we  say  at  once,  Aivay  with  the  whole 
of  this  miserable  theorizing  upon  imaginary  differ- 
ences, and  come  unhesitatingly,  confidingly,  to  the 
interrogation  of  nature. 

"51.  Ask  yourself  wherein  you  are  different  from  a 
mere  animal.  To  see  the  grand  difference,  notice  that 
the  psychological  nature  of  the  animal  is  controlled  by 
outward  objects  acting  upon  internal  senses  and  pro- 
pensities ;  that  it  has  no  self-judging,  self-deciding, 
self-governing,  self-conscious  personal  identity.  But 
be  cautious  how  you  confound  this  with  the  psy- 
chological. Man  has  both;  the  animal  has  but  one. 
The  former*  makes  man  man;  the  latter  f  makes  him 
an  animal.  The  former  makes  him  a  governor  of 
himself;  the  latter  makes  him  an  automaton  —  the 
tool  of  any  sensuous  influence  that  may  preponderate 
at  the  time.  The  former  makes  man  a  self-conscious, 
accountable  being;  the  latter,  an  irresponsible  ma- 
chine. When  the  former  is  suspended  in  its  action 
by  an  abnormal  condition  of  the  brain,  the  latter  may 
be  made  to  assume  any  sense  of  identity,  from  that 
of  the  supreme  Divinity  to  that  of  a  toad  ;  from  that 
of  the  archangel  Gabriel  to  that  of  a  shilling  bit ; 
whereas,  the  former  can  never  be  made  to  change  its 
own  sense  of  personal  identity  for  that  of  another.  It 
may  be  suspended  in  its  action,  as  in  insanity,  sleep, 
mesmeric  trance,  pathetism,  &c. ;  but  it  can  never  be 
made  to  feel  that  it  is  other  than  itself 

"  It  is,  indeed,  the  active   agent  in  man,  and  gives 

the  consciousness  of  power ;  whereas  the  latter  is  the 

» 

*  That  is,  the  self-judging,  self- deciding,  self-conscious,  personal 
identity. 

t  That  is,  the  psychological,  controllable  by  outward  mundane 
influences. 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  SCtl 

passive  instrument  of  the  dictates  of  the  higher  nature, 
or  of  the  unnumbered  influences  of  the  outer  sensuous 
world. 

"  By  the  former  he  is  to  claim  conscious  alliance  with 
the  Divinity  ;  for  it  is  an  image,  nay,  a  child,  of  the 
all-controlling  Spirit.  For  as  the  ever-blessed  God  is 
the  ever-active,  ever-developing  energy  of  the  universe, 
so  is  the  self-conscious  will  and  reason  of  man  the  only 
lawful  governor  of  the  human  sphere. 

"  Hence  it  is  the  centre  of  highest  agency  on  earth 
under  Deity.  From  this  go  forth  the  mandates  that 
control  the  wild  forces  of  nature  and  subdue  the  earth  ; 
whereas  the  latter  is  a  medium  of  communication  be- 
tiveen  the  former  and  the  vast  world.  It  is,  therefore, 
that  the  latter  is  susceptible  to  influences  even  from  the 
stars.  It  is,  therefore,  that  ivith  the  latter  are  associ- 
ated all  the  agents  of  this  munda^ie  sphere.  To  unfold 
these  principles  is  the  object  of  the  following  chapters." 

We  first  call   attention  to  the  forty-sixth  paragraph. 

"  Man  has  always  confounded  his  animal  with  his 
highest  nature  ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  he  has  looked 
upon  the  animal  as  entirely  destitute  of  spirituality." 

The  distinction  here  made  between  man's  hisrher 
nature  and  animal  nature  is  not  recognized  by  Solo- 
mon, or  by  Nature  herself;  and  if  we  mistake  not, 
what  the  author  calls  man's  animal  nature  is  his 
highest  nature. 

Again,  at  50,  he  says,  "  To  escape  these  absurdities, 
flight  is  made  to  theory  again,  and  it  is  supposed  that 
the  psychological  nature  which  man  possesses  in  com- 
mon with  the  animal  is,  in  some  vjay^  made  spiritual 
and  immortal,  while  that  of  the  animal  is  left  to 
peri:^h  with  that  of  the  body." 

The  author  here  seems  to  be  guilty  of  the  selfsame 


202  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

error  he  is  charging  upon  others.  It  is  this  "  psycho- 
logical nature  which  man  possesses  in  common  with 
the  animal"  which  is  the  child  of  theory,  and  not  the 
^^  some  way''''  in  which  man  himself  may  become  both 
spiritual  and  immortal. 

We  have  already  shown  from  Paul  that  man  is 
first  natural,  then  spiritual  ;  bearing  first  the  image 
of  the  first  Adam,  who  is  of  the  earth,  earthy ;  then 
the  image  of  the  second,  which  is  the  Lord  from 
heaven,  and  is  spiritual.     (See  page  132  ) 

And  Christ,  speaking  of  the  resurrection,  at  the  last 
day,  said,  he  that  liveth  at  that  day,  and  believeth  in 
him,  shall  never  die.  "  Believest  thou  this  ?  "  Those 
who  do  will  not  call  it  theorizing  to  talk  of  man's 
becoming  immortal  at  that  day,  while  beasts  are  left 
to  perish  bodily. 

Paul,  speaking  of  such  as  our  Savior  referred  to, 
says,  they  shall  be  changed;  and  that  change  be 
defines  to  be  from  mortal  to  immortality.  (See  1 
Cor.  XV.) 

"  51.  Man  has  both  ;  the  animal  has  but  one.  The 
former  ("  that  is,  the  self-judging,  self-deciding,  self- 
conscious,  personal  identity  ")  makes  man  man.  The 
latter  ("  that  is,  the  psychological,  controllable  by  out- 
ward mundane  influences  ")  makes  him  an  animal. 

"  The  former  makes  him  a  governor  of  himselfi, 
The  latter  makes  him  an  automaton  —  the  tool  of 
any  sensuous  influence  that  may  preponderate  at  the 
time.  The  former  makes  man  a  self-conscious,  ac- 
countable being  ;  the  latter,  an  irresponsible  machine." 
But  some  beasts  possess,  to  a  certain  degree,  all  which 
he  says  makes  man  man;  and  many  of  them  are  bettei 
governors  of  themselves  than  the  greater  part  of  man- 
kind.    They  not  only  govern  themselves  individually 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  203 

but  many  tribes  of  them  have  a  general  governor. 
Thus,  the  gregarious,  both  beast  and  bird,  the  ant  and 
bee,  have  each  a  governor  which  rules,  each  in  their 
respective  realms,  with  a  majestic  dignity  that  would 
do  honor  to  an  Alexander  or  a  Caesar. 

"  The  latter  makes  him  (man)  an  automaton." 
But  an  automaton  cannot  act  without  a  conscious 
something,  somewhere,  possessing  all  the  powers  and 
faculties  of  mind  and  brain,  which  constitute  man 
man,  in  contradistinction  to  a  brute. 

Now,  what  is  this  conscious  agent  ?  Is  it  od  force,  or 
mundane  action  ?  If  so,  we  have,  indeed,  discovered 
a  neio  agent,  one  that  has  greater  claims  to  od  force 
than  its  advocates  would  be  willing  to  allow.  It  is  an 
intuitive  axiom,  that  a  thing  cannot  impart  what  it 
does  not  possess.  How,  then,  can  "  outward  mundane 
influences"  impart  to  the  animal  the  animal  faculties 
and  propensities  ?  He  says,  the  latter  (the  outward 
mundane  influences)  "is  the  passive  instrument  of 
the  dictates  of  the  higher  nature,  or  of  the  unnum- 
bered influences  of  the  outer  sensuous  world."  He 
cannot  mean  by  this  the  world  of  mankind  ;  for  he  adds, 
"  It  is,  therefore,  that  the  latter  is  susceptible  to  the 
influence  of  the  stars."  May  not,  then,  some  evil- 
disposed  star  have  influenced  him  to  err  a  little  in 
laying  the  foundation  of  his  "  Philosophy  of  Mysteri- 
ous Rappings  ? "  According  to  the  positions  here 
assumed,  man,  in  his  normal  state,  is  far  inferior  to 
what  he  is  in  the  mesmeric ;  indeed,  the  latter  is  often 
called  the  superior  state.,  and  this  author  makes  it  the 
animal  state.  In  the  former,  he  is  dependent  on  his 
normal  senses  for  his  wisdom ;  in  the  latter,  on  the 
"  outward  mundane  influences."  In  the  former,  his 
sensations  are  limited  to  a  small  sphere ;  in  the  latter, 


204  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

they  are  bounded  only  by  the  stars.  Or,  in  other 
words,  as  a  nian,  his  sensations  are  very  limited  ;  but,  , 
as  an  animal,  they  are  limited  only  by  the  universe. 
In  the  former,  or,  as  a  maw,  he  possesses  but  a  moder- 
ate share  of  wisdom ;  but  in  the  latter,  as  an  animal, 
his  wisdom  approximates  to  that  of  godlike.  If 
this  is  the  only  real  difference  there  is  between  man 
and  the  mere  animal,  better  had  he  been  a  mere 
animal ;  for,  by  what  has  hitherto  been  called  instinct, 
they  are  endowed  with  a  superior  knowledge  of  many 
things  than  man,  and  often  with  a  foreknowledge 
that  man  does  not  possess.  Some  display  a  mechan- 
ical knowledge,  others  a  chemical,  and  others  a 
medicinal,  that  man  cannot  equal,  or  scarcely  imitate. 
In  case  of  disease,  the  animal  goes  into  the  field, 
(Nature's  apothecary  shop,)  selects  the  remedy,  deals 
out  the  potion,  takes  or  administers  it,  and  always 
with  success  ;  or,  at  least,  is  never  known  to  lose  a 
patient  ;  v^hile  man,  after  long  years  of  plodding 
through  his  volumes,  preparatory  to  practice,  often 
kills  \en  patients  to  curing  one. 

The  learned  astronomer,  after  proudly  contemplat- 
ing the  heavenly  bodies  and  investigating  the  physical 
laws  which  govern  them,  is   more   ignorant  of  the  se-  • 
verity  or  mildness  of  an  approaching  winter  than   the ! 
dormouse.      He  may,  indeed,  be  able  to  foretell  the  i 
time  oi  high  water  ;  but  the  beaver   and  muskrat  will 
do  more ;  they  will  tell  the  time  and  height  of  a  future  : 
freshet,  and  prepare  to  meet  the  evenrtr     And  further,  it  t 
is  added,- — 

"  By  the  former  he  is  to  claim  conscious  alliance 
with  the  Divinity  ;  for  it  is  au  image,  nay,  a  child,  of  the 
all-controlling  Spirit.  For  as  the  ever-blessed  God  is 
the  ever-active,  ever-developing  einergy  of  the  univ^rsei 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  205 

SO  is  the  self-conscious  will  and  reason  of  man  the  only 
lawful  governor  of  the  human  sphere.  Hence  it  is  the 
highest  agency  on  earth  under  Deity." 

If  this,  in  man,  is  "  a  child  of  the  all-controlling 
Spirit,"  what  is  that  a  child  of  which  gives  an  intui- 
tive* knowledge  of  these  things  to  animals?  Again: 
is  not  the  agency  which  controls  the  animal  sphere  as 
lawful  a  governor  as  that  which  controls  the  human? 
So  we  think.  But  there  is  a  more  '-lawful  Governor" 
of  the  human  sphere,  if  men  would  but  be  governed 
by  him  rather  than  by  their  own  vain  philosophy;  one 
that  "  will  reprove  (convince)  the  world  of  sin,  and  of 
righteousness,  and  of  judgment."     (John  xvi.  8.) 

Again  :  how  does  the  former  bring  man  more  in  alli- 
ance with  Divinity  than  the  latter  does  the  animal  ? 
and  how  is  the  former  a  ^^  centre  of  higher  agency" 
than  the  latter?  We  do  not  see.  We  have  shown 
that  the  animal  instinct  leads  to  higher  attainments 
than  man's  erring  reason.  The  latter  takes  the  longer 
and  more  circuitous  route,  and  arrives  at  decisions  with 
the  less  certainty.  For  instance  :  man,  by  a  laborious, 
mathematical  calculation,  may  ascertain  nearly  how 
much  food  will  serve  him  and  his  family  through  a 
winter;  but  the  ant  ascertains  it  intuitively,  and  has 
no  need  of  mathematics.  In  fact,  the  animal,  as  far 
as  utility  is  concerned,  possesses  the  end  of  every 
science,  by  intuition,  to  a  greater  degree  of  accuracy 
than  man  by  a  long  course  of  study.  Humiliating  as 
it  may  appear,  it  is  even  so.  What  proud  philosopher, 
with  all  his  acquired  wisdom,  would  ever  suspect  that 
a  bird  might  be  produced  from  an  ^^gg^  had  not  the 
bird  first  taught  him  the  fact  and  the  process  ?  But 
who  first  taught  the  bird  these  things  ?  Why,  says 
one,  she  was  not  taught  it  at  all;  it  is  a  matter  of  intu- 
18 


206  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

ition.  Well,  then,  the  untaught  bird  knows  more  than 
the  learned  philosopher;  and  the  question  forces  itself 
upon  us.  From  whence  did  she  derive  this  intuitive 
knowledge  ?  Is  it  from  od  force  ?  If  so,  od  force  has 
conferred  greater  and  more  wonderful  faculties  upon 
the  animaliban  the  Deity  has  upon  man  ;  and  od  force 
must  be  the  greater  deity.  This  is,  indeed,  od,  and 
odd  enough ;  the  odds  are  tremendous. 

From  the  above  positions,  it  is  evident  that,  in  the 
mesmeric  state,  man  puts  off  what  constitutes  him 
man,  and  puts  on  what  constitutes  him  merely  animal. 
In  this  latter  state,  he  is  certainly  endow^ed  with  finer 
perceptions  and  a  higher  intellect.  Now,  the  question 
is.  Are  there  two  primal  sources  of  intelligence,  from  one 
of  which  the  mind  receives  impressions,  and  from  the 
other  the  brain  ?  And  are  there  two  separate  and 
distinct  things  in  man,  each  of  which,  without  the 
other,  is  susceptible  of  receiving  conscious  impressions  ? 
It  would  seem  so ;  for  the  author  of  the  work  we  speak 
of  says,  on  page  319, — 

"  Now,  it  will  make  not  the  least  difference,  as  to  the 
sension  of  the  brain,  whether  the  mind  takes  cogni- 
zance of  it  or  not;  as  the  former  stands  as  a  fact  in 
nature,  independent  of  the  latter.  Hence  a  man  may 
have  represented  in  his  brain  an  infinite  number  of 
things  which  his  mind  never  knew.  Hence,  also,  it  is, 
that,  while  the  'medium's'  brain  has  the  sension  of 
the  so  called  clairvoyant,  the  mind  does  not  know  of  the 
action  of  the  hrainP  We  have  before  heard  of  an  "  in- 
ner man^^  which  some  have  erroneously  supposed  to 
be  an  immaterial,  conscious  man,  inside  of  a  material 
and  unconscious  body  ;  but  here  are  really  tiuo  inner 
men  to  one  body,  a  brain  independent  "of  mind,  and 
capable  of  receiving  impressions  and  communicating 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  207 

them  to  its  fellow-brain  in  another  individual :  and 
still  within  this  brain  is  another  seat  or  centre  of  a 
higher  intelligence,  capable  also  of  communicating 
with  kindred  minds  ;  and  perhaps,  on  further  mesmeric 
analysis,  it  may  be  found,  that  within  this  mind  there 
is  another  centre  of  still  higher  intellect,  and  another 
within  that,  and  so  on,  like  a  stack  of  juggler's  tum- 
blers ;  so  that  a  man  should  be  called  "  legionSj^  for  he 
is  many. 

In  the  quotation  just  given,  it  is  affirmed  that  the 
mind  and  the  brain  act  independently  of  each  other. 
According  to  that  author's  mode  of  reasoning,  the  fact, 
if  it  is  one,  can  be  proved  by  analogous  and  well- 
known  cases.  Now,  is  there  a  single  case  known,  (ex- 
cept such  as  he  supposes,)  in  which  the  mitid  of  man 
has  ever  been  known  to  act  independent  of  a  living, 
organized  brain?  There  is  not;  an  instance  of  the 
kind  cannot  be  produced.  Again :  if  the  brain  is  so 
acted  upon  by  mundane  force  as  to  produce  sension, 
independent  of  living  mind,  the  same  mundane  force 
may  also  so  act  on  the  brain  of  the  dead,  and  produce 
the  same  effect.  So,  after  all,  the  raps  and  communi- 
cations may  be  from  the  spirits,  or  rather  from  the 
brains,  of  the  dead. 

There  is  no  way  to  avoid  the  conclusion.  It  is 
matter  acting  on  matter,  that  is,  mundane  agency 
acting  on  a  material  brain,  so  as  to  produce  sension, 
which  again  is  communicated  to  either  another  brain 
or  mind,  or  both,  to  which  it  becomes  intelligence. 
In  this  way  the  mundane  agency  may  act  on  a  dead 
man's  brain  to  impress  it  with  sension,  which  again 
is  impressed  upon  the  brain  of  a  living  medium, 
through  which  it  is  communicated  to  a  mind  in  the 
normal  state, 


208  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

So,  after  all,  the  theory  is  admirably  calculated  to 
build  up  that  which  it  is  designed  to  pull  down.  If  a 
force  can  come  from  any  part  of  the  mundane  whole, 
and  knock  on  a  table  or  kick  over  a  chair,  it  may  as 
well  come  from  the  brain  of  a  dead  man  as  any 
thing  else. 

Therefore,  the  od  force  theory  must  be  abandoned, 
or  the  spiritual  theory  admitted  ;  for  it  makes  but  little 
difference  whether  the  raps  are  made  by  the  brains  or 
spirits  of  the  dead.  We  here  give  the  "  Deductions'^ 
found  on  pages  318-20  of  the  "  Philosophy  of  Myste- 
rious Rappings." 

'*  DEDUCTIONS.  —  MORAL  ARGUMENT.  —  CONCLUSION. 

^'651.  In  the  preceding  pages  we  have  presented 
facts,  showing,  — 

"  First.  The  influence  of  pathetism  in  producing  that 
condition  of  the  nervous  system  which  throws  it  into 
relation  to  the  mundane  agent.  Hence,  when  the  local 
relations  are  favorable,  the  '  rappings  '  and  '  table 
movings '  are  developed  by  pathetism  in  a  manner  to 
represent  intelligence. . 

"  Second.  That  the  condition  of  brain  in  which  the 
phenomenon  of  clairvoyance  is  developed  is  that  in 
which  also  the  higher  forms  of  intelligence  in  the  rap- 
pings are  obtained.  And  here  it  should  be  remem- 
bered, what  has  previously  been  shown,  that  clairvoy- 
ance is  first  the  sension  of  the  brain  of  what  exists  in 
time  and  space,  without  the  ordinary  use  of  the  senses, 
and  results  from  a  susceptible  condition  of  the  brain, 
in  which  it  stands  in  a  general  relation  to  the  whole 
outward  material  world,  or  in  the  midst  of,  and  subject 
to,   the   influence  of  the    new  imponderable ;   conse- 


OPPOSITION    LIN^.  209 

quently,  that  the  brain  in  this  relation  is  like  a  tele- 
graphic central  point,  from  which  radiate  and  extend 
an  infinity  of  connecting  wires  to  every  surrounding 
point,  so  that  a  touch  at  any  one  of  those  in  relation 
to  the  centre  (the  sensitive  brain)  conveys  to  it  at  once 
the  exact  representative  impression.  So  also  the 
brain,  standing  as  a  centre  in  time,  is  related  to  the 
events  that  have  transpired,  and  which  are  to  transpire, 
as  the  outer  point  is  related  to  the  centre  in  the  order 
and  relation  of  sequence.  Hence  in  the  brain  is  repre- 
sented any  point  of  time  or  space  by  specific  action. 
If,  then,  as  must  be  admitted,  the  knowledge  which  the 
mind  obtains  of  the  external  world  is  by  the  external 
world  representing  itself  first  upon  the  brain,  it  must 
necessarily  follow  that  the  mind  has  no  knoiuledge  of 
these  representations  when  its  action  is  suspended  in 
the  brain,  as  is  seen  in  the  so  called  unconscious  clair- 
voyance. The  representation  in  the  brain  of  the 
external  world,  then,  is  not  knowledge,  but  simply 
sension.  But,  when  the  mind  takes  cognizance  of  the 
brain's  sension,  the  cognizance  is  knowledge.  Hence 
conscious  clairvoyance,  so  called,  is  the  cognizance 
which  the  mind  takes  of  the  sension  of  the  brain,  with- 
out the  ordinary  five  senses. 

"  Now,  it  will  make  not  the  least  difference,  as  to  the 
sension  of  the  brain,  whether  the  mind  takes  cogni- 
zance of  it  or  not,  as  the  former  stands  as  a  fact  in 
nature  independent  of  the  latter.  Hence  a  man  may 
have  represented  in  his  brain  an  infinite  number  of 
things  which  his  mind  never  knew.  Hence  also  it  is, 
that,  while  the  '  medium's'  brain  has  the  same  sension 
of  the  so  called  clairvoyant,  the  mind  does  not  know  of 
the  action  of  the  brain.  Its  representations  being 
unconsciously  exhibited  in  the  'rappings,'  his  mind, 
18* 


210  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

therefore,  knows  not  how  to  refer  them,  except  to  some 
other  being,  sojr^e  spirit.  He  rightly  denies  that  he, 
as  2i  person,  —  as  a  conscious,  knowing,  responsible 
agent,  —  has  any  thing  to  do  with  the  intelligent  repre- 
sentations in  the  rappings  ;  and  yet  there  is  not  one  of 
the  '  communications '  made,  throughout  the  whole 
body  of  the  present  phenomena,  but  falls  within  the 
legitimate  province  of  the  brain's  sension.  This  ap- 
plies whether  to  the  'rappings'  or  to  the  involuntary 
movements  of  the  medium's  muscles.  For  we  have 
shown,  — 

"  Third.  That  when  the  organism  stands  in  the  power 
of  a  mundane  emanation,  so  that  the  earthly  agent,  in 
its  action  upon  and  through  the  organism,  shall  cause 
the  movement  of  objects  or  concussive  sounds,  the  ac- 
tion of  the  brain,  in  specific  relation,  loill  have  a  control- 
ling influence.  Hence,  as  the  brain  acts  in  reference 
to  mundane  results,  so  will  the  mundane  agent  repre- 
sent the  results  ;  and  thus  the  action  of  the  mundane 
agent  represents  the  action  of  the  brain.  For  the  brain 
itself -—indeed,  the  whole  nervous  system- — stands 
specifically  related  to  the  mundane  agent,  and  is  kept 
from  its  powerful  influence  only  by  the  health  of  the 
body  and  the  supreme  control  of  the  mind.  But  it  has 
been  shown,  — 

'"^Fourthly.  That,  in  order  to  become  a  '  medium,'  the 
mind  must  not  control  the  functions ;  that  it  is  a  uni- 
versal requisition,  among  the  so  called  spiritualists,, 
that  a  person,  in  order  to  be  a  'medium,'  must  be 
passive,  —  must  resign  himself  to  be  controlled,  —  that 
he  must  have  no  will ;  in  short,  that  he  must  resign 
all  his  controlling  power  over  his  body,  and  leave  his 
brain  and  general  organism,  and  their  various  func- 
tions, to  be  controlled   by    a   foreign    agent.     Conse- 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  211 

quently,  he  who,  as  a  responsible  agent,  has  usually 
the  least  control  over  the  organism,  is  the  most  readily 
inducted  into  '  mediumship.'  And  such  a  man  most 
readily  falls  under  the  control  of  material  influences. 
For,  as  we  have  shown,  when  the  mind  does  not  control 
the  organs^  the  poivers  of  the  world  will.  It  is  impos- 
sible that  this  should  be  otherwise,  since  the  organism 
belongs  to  the  world  of  matter,  and  is  subject  to  the 
forces  of  matter  ;  and  that  only  by  the  forces  of  his  own 
mind  —  namely,  by  his  will  and  his  reason  —  can  man 
save  his  automatic  nature  from  the  dominion  of  mat- 
ter. Even  then  he  will  fail,  if  the  vitality  of  the 
organism  becomes  weakened.  The  perfect  man,  then, 
is  a  perfect  mind,  controlling,  for  the  divinest  of  pur- 
poses, a  perfect  body. 

"  Now,  as  the  mind  supremely  active  over  the  organ- 
ism constitutes  the  man,  it  follows  that  to  resign  this 
and  to  become  passive  is  to  resign  our  manhood. 

^'•Finally,  As  the  mind  only  can  be  the  free,  thinking, 
responsible  agent,  the  organism  is  only  a  machine. 
To  resign,  therefore,  the  mind,  —  to  become  passive,  as 
is  required  of  those  who  would  be  'mediums,'  —  is  to 
become  an  unthinking,  irresponsible  machine.  In  so 
far  as  persons  become  '  mediums,'  they  are  mere 
automatons.'^ 

We  first  call  attention  to  the  following  sentence  :  — 

"And  here  it  should  be  remembered,  what  has  pre- 
viously been  shown,  that  clairvoyance  is  first  the  sen- 
§ion  of  the  brain  of  what  exists  in  time  and  space^ 
ivithoui  the  ordinary  use  of  the  senses. 

First,  it  will  be  noticed  that  pathetism  throws  the 
nervous  system  into  a  condition  which  brings  it  into 
relation  to  the  mundane  agent,  by  which  clairvoyance 
is  the  "  sension  of  the  brain  of  what  exists  in  time  and 


^12  THE    SPiRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

space ;"  and  further  on  it  is  said  this  is  "not  knowl- 
edge, but  simply  sension.  But,  when  the  mind  takes 
cognizance  of  the  brain^s  sension,  the  cognizance  is 
knoivledgeP 

Now,  as  nothing  can  exist  except  what  is  in  time  and 
space,  it  follows  that  the  brain  first  has  an  omnia  sen- 
sion, which  is  knowledge  where  the  mind  takes  cogni- 
zance of  it,  and  must  be  as  unlimited  as  the  sension, 
which  makes  it  amount,  in  the  end,  to  omniscience. 
This  is  rather  more  than  the  serpent  told  our  first 
parents  — "  Ye  shall  be  as  gods,  knowing  good  and 
evil."  Pathetism  has  a  little  m.ore  than  made  his 
words  true. 

But,  suppose  we  admit  all  this,  still  the  theory  is  a 
rotten  one.  For  things  do  not  exist  before  they  exist ; 
but  clairvoyants  tell  of  them  before  ;  so  they  are  pos- 
sessed with  a  sension  underived  from  mundane  agen- 
cies. The  author  whom  we  quote  speaks  of  a  man 
who  was  in  the  habit  of  telling  beforehand  when  a 
funeral  in  his  neighborhood  would  take  place. 

Further  on  it  is  said  that  the  brain  in  this  relation 
(to  the  whole  outward  material  world)  "  is  like  a  tele- 
graphic central  point,  from  which  radiate  and  extend 
an  infinity  of  connecting  wires  to  every  surrounding 
point,  so  that  a  touch  at  any  one  of  those  in  relation 
to  the  centre  (the  sensitive  brain)  conveys  to  it  at 
once  the  exact  representative  expression.  So  also  the 
brain,  standing  as  a  centre  in  time,  is  related  to  the 
events  that  have  transpired,  and  which  are  to  transpire, 
as  the  outer  point  is  related  to  the  centre  in  the  order 
of  sequence." 

But  the  telegraphic  wire  is  useless  without  an  intel- 
ligent agent  at  each  end  of  it  to  make  the  "  touch,^^ 
Now,  when  a  clairvoyant  tells  of  a  thing  before  it  exists, 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  213 

who  makes  the  "  touch  "  at  the  other  end  of  the  wire 
where  as  yet  there  is  no  event  ?  For  instance  :  in  the 
case  of  the  man  who  foretold  funerals  ;  his  brain  was 
at  ons  end  of  the  wire,  and  a  funeral  must  have  been 
at  the  other  end  for  him  to  have  told  of  a  funeral ;  but 
the  fact  is,  he  told  it  before  it  existed  at  the  other  end. 

But  it  is  said,  •'  the  brain,  standing  as  a  centre  in 
time^  is  related  to  the  events  that  have  transpired,  and 
which  are  to  transpire."  So,  in  such  cases,  future  time, 
burdened  with  the  future  event,  gives  the  "  touch  "  at 
the  other  end  of  the  wire.  But,  philosophically,  there 
is  no  such  thing  as  future  time  or  future  events.  Time, 
like  a  gentle  stream,  is  constantly  rolling  onward  ;  it 
fills  the  channel  of  the  stream  behind,  but  not  ahead 
at  any  given  point  until  it  arrives  at  that  point.  And 
an  event  cannot  be  an  event  until'  it  transpires,  any 
more  than  a  child  can  be  a  child  before  it  is  begotten. 
We  speak  of  future  time  and  future  events  as  a  mere 
matter  of  convenience,  to  avoid  a  circumlocution.  The 
moment  a  point  of  time  or  an  event  exists,  it  is  past; 
so  an  existing  future  point  of  time,  or  an  existing  future 
event,  must  be  in  the  past  tense  ;  which  is  an  absurdity 
none  will  admit.  So  it  is  equally  as  absurd  to  talk  of 
any  existing  relation  of  the  brain  to  future  time  or 
events,  as  it  is  to  talk  of  an  existing  relation  between 
a  father  and  son  before  either  is  born.  But,  absurd 
as  it  is,  it  is  one  of  the  strong  pillars  in  the  "  Philoso- 
phy of  Mysterious  Rappings." 

It  is  generally  admitted  that  a  stream  cannot  rise 
higher  than  its  head.  We  have  followed  the  stream 
to  what  is  called  the  head,  but  find  the  stream  rises 
above  it. 

In  pathetism,  there  is  a  knowledge  obtained  which 
theory  does  not  account  for.    And  we  ask,  From  whence 


314  THE    SPIRITUAI4    TELEGRAPHIC 

is  it?  We  do  not  ask  through  what  channel  or  con- 
catenation of  means  it  comes  to  the  brain  ;  whether 
by  an  electrical  telegraphic  line,  or  a  mundane  line  of 
packets,  or  an  od  force  postboy ;  but  we  ask,  Where 
and  ivhat  is  the  fountain  head  of  this  mesmeric  sension 
or  knowledge  ?  It  does  not  reside  in  mundane  things  ; 
where  is  it,  then,  we  ask  again  ?  But  echo  answers. 
Where  ? 

The  nearest  thing  in  nature  allied  to  it  is  animal 
instinct :  and  in  this,  as  Pope  says,  "  God  directs." 

If  God  directs  clairvoyants,  they  are  really  his  proph- 
ets. This  cannot  be,  for  they  generally  tell  ten  lies  to 
one  truth,  while  his  prophets  always  tell  the  truth  ;  and 
even  animal  instinct  is  never  knowm  to  err,  so  that 
clairvoyants  cannot  be  under  that  influence.  But  they 
must  be  under  some  intelligent  influence  ;  and  we  have 
shown  it  is  not  of  a  mundane  nature,  and  that  it  is  not 
of  God  ;  consequently,  as  a  dernier  resort^  it  must  be  of 
the  devil. 

We  are  aware  this  is  an  unpopular  idea  in  this  pres- 
ent age  of  moral  philosophism,  in  which  men  have 
become  so  vastly  "  wise  above  what  is  written."  But 
the  fact  that  there  is  a  devil  is  revealed  from  a  higher 
source  than  the  wisdom  of  men,  and  that  he  has  done 
just  what  is  being  done  through  what  is  usually  called 
mesmerism,  pathetism,  &c. 

That  there  is  a  mysterious  intelligence  manifested  in 
clairvoyants,  mediums,  &c.,  all  agree.  Many  writers 
tell  us  a  great  deal  about  philosophical  channels 
through  which  the  intelligence  comes,  but  little  or 
nothing  about  the  source  from  whence  it  comes.  The 
postboy  who  brings  us  the  news  is  not  the  news  him- 
self, but  the  means  of  conveying  it. 

Here  is  the  grand   point  on  which  the  writers  of 


OPPOSITION    LINE,  215 

philosophical  theories  of  mesmerism  have  failed;  and 
these  failures  the  modern  spiritualists  are  making 
capital  out  of.  They  say  it  is  from  the  spirits  of  the 
dead,  and  that  there  is  no  devil ;  and  having,  as  they 
think,  found  the  source  of  the  intelligence,  little  do 
they  care  by  what  physical  or  philosophical  channel 
their  opponents  bring  it  to  the  living ;  if  they  only 
get  it  there,  it  answers  their  purpose.  If  a  man  has 
important  news  which  he  wishes  to  send  his  friend  in 
Europe,  he  can  contrive  sorne  way  to  get  it  to  him  ; 
and  when  received,  if  of  a  mysterious  nature,  his 
friend  will  not  so  much  wonder  through  what  channel 
it  was  conveyed  to  him  as  how  his  friend  happened  to 
have  it  to  convey.  He  would  not  suspect  that  the 
wonderful  news  originated  in  the  mode  of  convey- 
ance, or  in  the  peculiar  state  he  was  in  to  receive  it. 

DEDUCTIONS. 

Having  briefly  examined  several  theories  opposed 
to  that  of  the  agency  of  departed  spirits,  we  are  irre- 
sistibly led  by  them,  if  admitted,  to  the  following 
conclusions  :  — 

1.  That  the  influence  of  magnetism  throws  the 
nervous  system  into  a  condition  to  be  influenced  by 
some  external  agent,  in  a  manner  to  represent  intel- 
ligence surpassing  that  of  the  normal  state. 
j  2.  That  this  intelligence  must  originate  in,  and 
proceed  from,  that  external  agent. 

3.  That  the  external  agent,  whatever  it  may  be 
called,  is  but  a  part,  or  the  whole,  of  the'  grand  mun- 
dane universe. 

4.  That  as  a  thing  cannot  impart  what  it  does  not 
possess,   the    material   universe   possesses  a   sension 


216  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

of  things,  past,  present,  ^nd  future,  which  it  impresses 
on  the  brain,  and  in  which,  in  connection  with  the 
mind,  becomes  knowledge. 

5.  That,  as  the  brain  is  associated  with  mind,  and 
stands  related  to  the  whole  universe,  of  which  it  is  a 
miniature  representation,  so  also  the  whole  universe, 
as  a  whole,  must  have  a  mind  as  well  as  sension. 

6.  That  the  innate  sension  of  the  mundane  uni- 
verse is  unlimited ;  consequently,  it  possesses  an 
omniscient  mind,  susceptible  of  being  impressed  upon 
the  brain,  and  through  that,  under  favorable  circum- 
stances, to  the  mind  of  man,  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree. 

7.  As  God  is  omniscient,  he  must  be  the  omni- 
science of  the  universe. 

8.  That  the  material  universe  is  God,  as  matter 
endowed  with  sension,  and  whose  mind  is  omniscient. 
And  as  man  is  made  in  the  image  of  God,  he  is  a 
miniature  representation  of  the  universe,  having  a 
material  brain,  susceptible,  under  the  influence  of 
pathetism,  of  receiving  the  sension  of  the  material 
universe,  and  reflecting  it  upon  his  mind,  which  is 
knowledge. 

9.  That  there  are  but  two  principles  in  nature  — 
God  and  matter,  or  mind  and  matter. 

10.  That  the  body  of  man  is  a  part  of  one,  and 
his  soul  is  a  part  of  the  other ;  and  at  death,  the 
former  returns  to  the  great  sea  of  matter,  and  thcf 
latter  to  the  great  sea  of  intellect,  in  which  the  iden 
tity  and  personality  of  both  are  forever  lost  in  thef 
universal  whole. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  mundane,  like  the  electro, 
theory  already  examined,  leads,  also,  to  the  conclu- 
sion that,  as  the  great  Mind  of  all  is  identified  withi 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  217 

the  universe,  every  phenomenon  would  be  the  same, 
whether  matter  existed  or  not ;  so  that  pantheism,  or 
idealism,  must  finally  be  the  result  of  all  such  theories. 
And  such,  also,  is  finally  the  result  of  the  doctrine 
disclosed  by  the  pretended  spirits.  The  former  leads 
us  to  this  conclusion  by  a  little  shorter  route  than  the 
latter ;  it  is,  therefore,  a  little  shorter  way  to  infidel- 
ity. Now,  if  a  belief  in  spiritual  agency  in  these 
things  is  an  evil,  it  is  only  so  from  its  evil  tendency. 
Admit  it  is  an  evil,  and  how  shall  we  oppose  it? 
Not  by  presenting  a  theory  which  has  for  its  very 
elements  the  selfsame  evil ;  for  it  is  a  poor  physician 
who  cures  the  malady  of  his  patient  by  plunging  him 
into  another,  which  the  sooner  produces  the  same 
fatal  end,  like  cutting  off  a  man's  head  to  save  him 
from  death  by  cholera.  Find  a  science  or  natural 
agent  by  which  a  medium  can  foretell  with  precision 
a  future  event,  and  we  have  found  one  by  which 
might  have  come  that  prophecy  of  old,  which  alone  is 
calculated  to  mould  the  savage  nature  of  man  into 
an  angelic  form,  and  teach  him  his  accountability  to 
God,  and  the  way  to  eternal  life  and  happiness  here- 
after. 

No  doubt  but  many  Christians,  believing  in  these 
so  called  philosophical  modes  of  accounting  for  the 
^^  mysteri/,^^  will  rejoice  in  what  they  think  the  over- 
throw of  rapping'  spiritualism ;  but  they  ought  rather 
to  mourn  ;  for  the  victory  (if  such  it  be)  has  been  too 
dearly  purchased  by  finishing  up  what  rapology  has 
begun. 

Now,  what   great   difference  does   it   make  in  the 

end  whether  these  things  are  done  by  the  spirits  of 

the  dead,  or  by  mundane  agency,  or  electricity  ;  either 

way  of  accounting    for   them  is  fatal  to  divine  rev- 

19 


218  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

elation  and  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  alike 
has  a  tendency  to  throw  off  that  moral  restraint  so 
essential  to  our  well  being  here  and  eternal  life  here- 
after. 

To  find  out  some  philosophical  way  to  throw  off 
this  restraint,  seems  to  be  the  present  grand  object  of 
the  world ;  and  what  the  pretended  spirits  of  the  dead 
are  not  able  to  do,  is  likely  to  be  done  by  the  philos- 
ophism  of  the  age.  These  are  truly  the  perilous 
times  which  the  apostle  Paul  said  should  come  in 
"  the  last  days ;  "  in  which  he  says  men  will  be  "  ever 
learning,  and  never  able  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  truth."  Men  have  gone  on  building  theory  upon 
theory,  and  throwing  darkness  upon  darkness,  by 
reason  of  not  being  wiJling  to  "  give  the  devil  his 
due."  The  doctrine  of  the  new  agent  identifies  the 
Deity  with  matter ;  and  to  be  consistent  with  itself 
and  popular  opinion,  it  must  identify  the  devil  with 
man.  Here  lies  the  difficulty  :  the  real  agent  being 
kept  out  of  sight,  the  more  theory  we  have,  the  more 
obscurity.  The  world  has  always  hated  the  truth, 
which  of  late  is  become  very  unpopular;  so  much  so, 
that  few  writers  dare  to  meddle  with  it.  But  nothing 
else  will  save  ns.  Popular  theory  may  make  us 
popular,  that  is,  "  high  esteemed  among  men,"  but 
"  an  abomination  in  the  sight  of  God."  Our  Savior 
prayed  that  his  disciples  might  be  sanctified  by  the 
truth,  (not  by  popular  opinion.)  "  Thy  word  is  truth." 
Let  us  take  it,  then,  instead  of  od  force,  and  we  shall 
find  out  the  agent  in  pathetism  at  once. 

Though  we  have  devoted  a  chapter  to  prove,  by 
the  word  of  God,  the  identity  and  personality  of  the 
adversary  of  man,  it  may  be  proper  here  to  give  the 
reader  some  evidence  of  it  in  this  place,  that  he  may 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  219 

the  better  judge  what  is  the  agent  in  these  mysteries. 
Matt.  XXV.  41,  "  Then  shall  he  say  also  to  them  on 
the  left  hand,  Depart  from  me,  ye  cm'sed,  into  ever- 
lasting fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels." 

Here  the  Savior  certainly  recognizes  two  orders  of 
wicked  beings,  viz,,  wicked  men,  who  at  the  judgment 
day  will  depart  into  a  place  prepared  for  the  devil  and 
his  angels.  Now,  if  the  angels  of  the  devil  are 
wicked  men,  as  some  think  they  are,  who  is  the  devil  ? 
He  cannot  be  a  man.     fSee  chapter  fifteen.) 


220  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

MESMERISM    CONSIDERED    IN    THE  LIGHT   OF    DIVINE 

REVELATION. 

"  When  thou  art  come  into  the  land  which  the 
Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee,  thou  shalt  not  learn  to  do 
after  the  abominations  of  those  nations.  There  shall 
not  be  found  among  you  any  one  that  maketh  his  son 
or  his  daughter  to  pass  through  the  fire,  or  that  useth 
divination,  or  an  observer  of  times,  or  an  enchanter, 
or  a  witch,  or  a  charmer,  or  a  consulter  with  familiar 
spirits,  or  a  wizard,  or  a  necromancer.  For  all  that  do 
these  things  are  an  abomination  unto  the  Lord  :  and 
because  of  these  abominations  the  Lord  thy  God 
doth  drive  them  out  from  before  thee."  (Deut.  xviii. 
9-12.) 

"  These  words  were  delivered  by  Moses,  in  the 
name  of  Jehovah,  to  the  people  of  Israel,  when  they 
were  about  to  pass  over  Jordan  into  their  promised 
land,  and  just  before  the  great  lawgiver  ascended 
Mount  Nebo  to  die.  In  them  he  gives  a  comprehen- 
sive catalogue  of  almost  all  the  arts  and  practices  of 
divination  that  have  ever  been  known  in  the  world  ; 
and  solemnly  prohibits  them,  as  heathen  abominations, 
which  are  sure  to  bring  the  curse  of  God  upon  their 
victims.  When  thou  art  come  into  the  land  ivhich  the 
Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee,  thou  shalt  not  learn  to  do 
after  the  abominations  of  those  nations. 

"  1.  There  shalt  not  he  found  among  you  any  that 
maketh  his  son  or  his  daughter  to  pass  through  the  fire. 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  S21 

This  expression,  to  pass  throvgh  the  Jire^  describes  a 
rite  of  the  idolatrous  worshippers  of  Moloch,  which, 
as  it  would  seem,  did  not  always  destroy  the  lives  of 
the  children.  For  King  Ahaz,  among  his  other  abom- 
inations, made  his  son  to  pass  through  the  fire ;  and 
this  son  seems  to  have  been  the  same  with  Hezekiah, 
who  reigned  after  his  father.  It  is  probable  that  this 
was  a  form  of  divination  in  which  the  children  were 
in  some  way  exposed  to  the  action  of  fire,  and  by 
which  a  prosperous  and  happy  life  was  divined  for 
those  who  escaped. 

"  2.  Or  that  useth  divination.  This  specification 
seems  to  refer  to  particular  kinds  of  divination,  as  by 
the  idolatrous  use  of  the  lot ;  by  the  divining  rod ;  by 
arrows,  upon  which  were  written  directions  to  do  or 
not  to  do  any  given  thing,  and  which,  were  drawn  at 
random  from  the  quiver;  by  the  voices  and  the  flight 
of  birds,  and  from  the  entrails  of  victims,  w^hether 
animal  or  human, -which  were  slain  for  sacrifices. 

"  3.  Or  an  observer  of  times.  One  who  pretended 
to  foretell  future  events  from  the  motions  of  the 
clouds,  and  perhaps  from  those  of  the  heavenly  bodies. 
The  prophet  Isaiah  thus  speaks  to  those  who  were 
deluded  by  these  arts  in  his  day :  Let  noio  the  astrol- 
ogers^ the  star  gazers^  the  monthly  prognosticators, 
stand  vp  and  save  thee  from  all  these  things  that  shall 
come  upon  thee.  Behold.)  they  shall  be  as  stubble  ;  the 
fire  shall  burn  them.  They  shall  not  deliver  them- 
selves from  the  power  of  the  fiame. 

"  4,  6.  Or  an  enchanter*^  or  a  charmer.  Those  who 
sought  to  confirm  their  pretensions  to  magical  pow- 
ers by  charming  venomous  serpents,  by  prescribing 
charms,  and  by  muttering  spells  to  cure  diseases  and 
to  avert  other  calamities. 
19* 


222  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

"  5,  8.  Or  a  witch,  or  a  ivizard.  These  words,  both 
in  the  Hebrew  and  English,  are  applied  to  those, 
whether  male  or  female,  who  pretend  to  superior 
knowledge  or  wisdom  derived  from  magical  arts. 
Thou  sha/t  not  suffer  a  witch  to  live. 

"  7.  Or  a  consiilter  loith  familiar  spirits.  Literally, 
one  who  consults  with  the  bottle  or  wine  skin.  There 
is  not  a  doubt  but  that  those  Avho  practised  this  form 
of  divination  were  ventriloquists.  Either  they  caused 
their  stomachs  to  protrude  like  a  wine  skin  blown  up, 
as  was  so  frequently  noticed  in  the  Salem  witchcraft, 
and  by  speaking  in  a  strange  voice,  as  out  of  their 
stomachs,  persuaded  the  ignorant  people  that  they 
had  a  demon  inside  of  them,  by  which  they  could 
divine,  or  they  carried  a  wine  skin  about  with  them, 
and  gave  their  oracles  as  if  from  a  spirit  confined  in 
it  by  magic.  Hence,  in  the  Septuagint,  the  Greek 
version  of  the  Scriptures  which  was  made  by  the 
Jews  themselves,  this  phrase  is  translated  by  a  word 
which  exactly  corresponds  in  form  and  meaning  to 
our  ventriloquist.  This  kind  of  divination,  in  spite  of 
the  curses  pronounced  upon  it  in  a  great  number  of 
places  and  in  a  great  variety  of  forms,  seems  to  have 
been  a  favorite  superstition  with  the  people  of  Israel. 
And  thou  shalt  be  brought  down,  and  shalt  speak  out 
of  the  ground,  and  thy  speech  shall  be  low  out  of  the 
dust,  and  thy  voice  shall  be  as  of  one  that  hath  a 
familiar  spirit,  and  thy  speech  shall  whisper  (in  the 
margin,  joge/?,  or  chirp,  i.  e.,  make  a  sound  like  that  of 
callow  birds)  out  of  the  dusi.  Regard  not  them  that 
have  familiar  spirits,  neither  seek  after  wizards  to  be 
defiled  by  them.  The  soul  that  turneth  after  such  as 
have  familiar  spirits,  and  after  wizards,  to  go  a- 
wboring  after  them,  I  will  set  my  face  against  that 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  223 

sou],  and  will  cut  him  off  from  his  people.  The  same 
thing  is  spoken  of  also  in  the  New  Testament,  in 
the  case  of  a  certain  damsel  possessed  with  a  spirit 
of  divination,  literally  a  spirit  of  Python,  which 
brought  her  masters  much  gain  by  soothsaying. 
From  the  use  of  the  word  Python  here,  it  would  seem 
that  this  form  of  divination  was  identical  with  one 
that  prevailed  extensively  among  the  Greeks  and 
Romans.  Those  who  practised  this  art  are  frequently 
called  ivitches  and  wizards  in  the  Scriptures ;  and 
they  pretended  also  to  consultation  with  the  spirits  of 
the  dead. 

"  9.  Oi'  a  necromancer.  Literally,  an  interrogator  of 
the  dead,  whether  by  means  of  familiar  spirits  or 
otherwise.  And  when  they  shall  say  unto  you,  Seek 
unto  them  that  have  familiar  spirits,  and  unto  wizards 
that  peep  (or  chirp)  and  mutter,  then  ye  shall  answer, 
Should  not  a  people  seek  unto  their  God  ?  Should 
they  seek  for  the  living  unto  the  dead  ?  To  the  law 
and  to  the  testimony  :  if  they  speak  not  according  to 
this  word,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light  in  them. 
Thus  saith  the  Lord  thy  Redeemer,  and  he  that 
formed  thee  from  the  womb,  I  am  the  Lord  that 
maketh  all  things  ;  that  stretcheth  forth  the  heavens 
above;  that  spreadeth  abroad  the  earth  by  myself; 
that  frustrateth  the  tokens  of  the  liars,  and  maketh 
diviners  mad.  And  Manasseth  did  evil  in  the  sight 
of  the  Lord,  after  the  abominations  of  the  heathen, 
whom  the  Lord  cast  out  before  the  children  of  Israel. 
For  he  made  his  son  to  pass  through  the  fire,  and 
observed  times,  and  used  enchantments,  and  dealt 
with  familiar  spirits  and  wizards.  Wherefore  the 
Lord  brought  upon  him  the  captains  of  the  host  of 
the    King   of  Assyria,   which   took   him   among  the 


224  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIO 

thorns,  and  bound  him  with  fetters,  and  carried  him 
captive  to  Babylon.  It  was  of  one  of  these  necro- 
mancers that  Saul  asked  counsel  after  he  was  aban- 
doned of  God,  and  just  before  his  mournful  suicide. 
And  Saul  said  unto  his  servants.  Seek  me  a  woman  that 
hath  a  familiar  spirit,  that  I  may  go  to  her  and  inquire 
of  her.  And  he  said  unto  her.  Divine  unto  me  by 
the  familiar  spirit,  and  bring  me  up  from  the  dead 
him  whom  I  shall  name  unto  thee  ?  So  Saul  died  for 
his  transgression  which  he  had  committed  —  for  asking 
counsel  of  one  that  had  a  familiar  spirit,  to  inquire 
of  it." 

It  is  true,  we  do  not  find  the  word  mesmerism, 
clairvoyance,  or  medium  in  the  Bible ;  but  the  name 
of  a  thing  does  not  alter  the  thing  itself. 

That  the  witch  of  Endor  was  what  is  now  called  a 
medium.,  cannot  be  doubted.  Hear  the  language  ad- 
dressed to  her  by  Saul :  "  Divine  unto  me  by  the 
familiar  spirit,  and  bring  me  him  up  whom  I  shall 
name  unto  thee."  (1  Sam.  xxviii.  8.)  And  for  this 
sin  Saul  died.  (1  Chron.  x.  13.)  At  the  present 
time,  people  are  going  to  persons  called  mediums,  and 
saying,  "  Bring  me  up  those  I  shall  name."  And  the 
spirits  of  such  are  said  to  be  brought  up.  No  matter 
by  what  agency  it  is  said  to  be  done,  whether  by 
witchcraft,  electricit}^,  odyle,  necromancy,  or  mesmer- 
ism, it  is  the  same  thing. 

It  is  said  the  holy  prophets  were  under  the  same 
influence.  But  this  cannot  be.  We  never  hear  of 
their  pretending  to  consult  with  the  spirits  of  the 
dead ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  they  every  where  con- 
demn the  practice.  Moreover,  it  is  evident  that  the 
prophets  and  wizards  of  old  were  not  considered  as 
both    one,  otherwise    Samuel  would   not   have    be^^n 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  225 

called  a  prophet,  and  the  medium  of  Endor  a  witch. 
Neither  would  one  have  been  approved  of  God,  and 
the  other  condemned,  had  they  both  been  of  one  sect 
or  class.  We  never  read  that  God  ever  manifested 
his  displeasure  to  those  who  sought  unto  his  prophets ; 
but  he  has  every  where  manifested  it  to  those  who 
seek  unto  a  ivitcli,  medium,  or  necromancer. 

Neither  is  it  less  displeasing  in  the  sight  of  God 
now  than  in  the  days  'of  Saul ;  and  unless  nature  has 
changed  since  that  time,  it  is  now  done  by  the  same 
agency.  No  matter  by  what  name  or  by  what  power 
this  agency  is  called  into  action ;  when  in  action,  it 
is  the  same. 

That  holy  men  of  old  did  not  make  their  disclosures 
through  the  spirits  of  the  dead,  is  evident  from  some 
of  their  disclosures  themselves.  For  instance  :  Job 
says,  (Job  xiv.,)  "  Who  can  bring  a  clean  thing  out  of 
an  unclean  ?  not  one.  Seeing  his  days  are  deter- 
mined, the  number  of  his  months  are  with  thee,  thou 
hast  appointed  his  bounds,  that  he  cannot  pass ; 
turn  from  him,  that  he  may  rest  till  he  shall  accom- 
plish, as  an  hireling,  his  day.  For  there  is  hope  of  a 
tree,  if  it  be  cut  down,  that  it  will  sprout  again,  and 
that  the  tender  branch  thereof  will  not  cease.  Though 
the  root  thereof  wax  old  in  the  earth,  and  the  stock 
thereof  die  in  the  ground,  yet  through  the  scent  of 
water  it  will  bud,  and  bring  forth  boughs  like  a  plant. 
But  man  dieth,  and  wasteth  away ;  yea,  man  giveth 
up  the  ghost,  and  where  is  he  ?  As  the  waters  fail 
from  the  sea,  and  the  flood  decayeth  and  drieth  up ; 
so  man  lieth  down,  and  riseth  not :  till  the  heavens  be 
no  more,  they  shall  not  awake,  nor  be  raised  out  of 
their  sleep.    If  a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again  ?    All  the 


22B  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELE&RAPHIC 

days  of  my  appointed  time  will  I  wait,  till  my  change 
come." 

And  again,  speaking  of  the  dead,  he  says,  "  His 
sons  come  to  honor,  and  he  knoweth  it  not ;  and  they 
are  brought  low,  but  he  perceiveth  it  not  of  them." 
Let  us,  for  a  moment,  contemplate  Job  in  the  charac- 
ter of  a  medium.  A  spirit  comes  to  him,  perhaps  that 
of  his  deceased  father,  and  thus  addresses  him  :  "Job, 
my  son,  I  am  before  you  to'  make  an  important 
revelation." 

'•  Well,  father,  what  is  it?" 

•'  Man  that  is  born  of  a  woman  is  of  few  days,  and 
full  of  trouble.  He  cometh  forth  as  a  flower,  and  is 
cut  down  ;  not  like  a  tree  to  sprout  up  again  immedi- 
ately, but  he  lieth  down,  and  riseth  not :  till  the  heavens 
be  no  more,  he  does  not  awake,  nor  is  he  raised  out 
of  his  sleep ;  neither  does  he  know  what  befalls  the 
living :  for  when  you,  my  son,  were  in  your  palmy  days 
of  prosperity,  you  came  to  honor,  but  I,  being  dead, 
knew  it  not;  and  now,  in  your  present  afflictions, 
you  are  brought  low,  even  in  dust  and  ashes  ;  but  I  do 
not  perceive  it  of  you." 

"  But  you  say  you  are  the  spirit  of  my  father,  and 
that  you  are  dead,  and  are  not  to  rise  again,  or  wake 
up,  till  the  heavens  be  no  more  ;  and  that  you  know 
not  what  befalls  the  living;  how,  then,  do  you  reveal 
these  things  ?  " 

"  Done  ! "  rapped  the  spirit,  and  so  ended  the  dis- 
closure. 

Nor  can  we,  with  more  propriety,  contemplate  Sol- 
omon in  the  same  character.  It  could  not  have  been 
the  spirit  of  the  dead  that  disclosed  to  him  the  fact 
that  "  there  is  no  work,  nor  device,  nor  knowledge,  nor 
wisdom  in  sheol,  (the  state  of  the  dead,)  whither  thou 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  227 

goest ; "  because  such  a  disclosure,  made  by  the  dead, 
would  carry  its  own  condemnation  on  the  face  of  it. 
(Eccl.  ix.  10.) 

But  whatever  may  be  said  of  "  circle  disclosures," 
it  is  certain  the  secrets  of  God  can  never  be  revealed 
through  WICKED  men.  "  The  secret  of  the  Lord  is 
with  them  that  fear  him  ;  and  he  will  show  them  his 
covenant."  (Ps.  xxv.  14.)  "  Surely  the  Lord  God 
will  do  nothing,  but  he  revealeth  his  secret  unto  his 
servants  the  prophets."  (Amos  iii.  7.  Prov.  iii.  32. 
John  vii.  17 ;  xv.  15.)  The  secret  of  the  Lord  is 
with  them  that  fear  him  ;  the  wicked  cannot  reveal 
it;  they  have  often  tried,  but  always  failed.  A 
few  instances  will  here  be  given.  Through  Moses 
and  Aaron  was  revealed  the  power  of  God.  The 
attempt  that  the  Egyptian  magicians  made  to  prove 
the  same  power  in  their  god,  or  to  disprove  the  power 
of  Moses'  God,  proved,  in  the  end,  a  total  failure. 

We  next  call  attention  to  the  dream  of  Pharaoh. 
Gen.  xli.  8,  "  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  morning, 
that  his  spirit  was  troubled  ;  and  he  sent  and  called 
for  all  the  magicians  of  Egypt,  and  all  the  wise  men 
thereof:  and  Pharaoh  told  them  his  dream,  but  there 
was  none  that  could  interpret  them  unto  Pharaoh. 
Then  Pharaoh  sent  and  called  Joseph.  And  Joseph 
answered  Pharaoh,  saying,  It  is  not  in  me :  God 
shall  give  Pharaoh  an  answer  of  peace."  Joseph  had 
before  stated  to  his  fellow-prisoner  that  interpretations 
belong  to  God.  In  this  case,  God  had  a  secret  to 
reveal ;  a  wicked  Pharaoh  could  dream  it,  but  neither 
psychologists  nor  magicians  could  interpret  it ;  for  that 
purpose  there  must  be  a  Joseph,  a  man  of  God. 

So  in  the  case  of  Nebuchadnezzar  ;  he  also  dreamed 
a  dream  wherewith  his  spirit  was  troubled.     Dan.  ii., 


228  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

"  Then  the  king  commanded  to  call  the  magicians, 
and  the  astrologers,  and  the  sorcerers,  and  the  Chaldeans, 
for  to  show  the  king  his  dreams."  How  common  it  is 
for  the  wicked  to  look  every  way  for  instruction  before 
they  do  to  God  !  He  has  given  us  every  necessary  in- 
struction concerning  the  future  in  his  word ;  yet  people 
are  more  prone  to  consult  mediums  or  necromancers 
than  they  are  the  word  of  God.  Thus  Pharaoh  and 
Nebuchadnezzar  first  called  upon  their  magicians;  but 
when  they  saw  their  utter  inability  to  reveal  the  truth, 
they  sought  unto  men  inspired  of  God.  In  the  latter 
case,  the  Chaldeans  said,  "  There  is  not  a  man  upon 
the  earth  that  can  show  the  king's  matter."  They  un- 
doubtedly thought  there  was  no  greater  power  of 
divination  than  theirs  ;  and  had  there  been  none  greater 
than  psychology  or  mesmerism,  "  the  king's  matter  " 
never  would  have  been  revealed,  for  the  secrets  of  God 
are  not  revealed  by  or  through  these  means. 

But  the  question  may  be  asked.  How  shall  we  dis- 
tinguish between  the  revelation  of  modern  mediums 
and  that  of  the  holy  prophets  of  God  ?  The  rule  we 
have  already  given  from  the  counterfeit  detector  — 
"  The  secret  of  the  Lord  is  with  them  that  fear  him." 
Those  who  fear  God,  and  who  reveal  his  secrets,  never 
fail  to  give  him  the  glory;  they  do  not  give  it  to  the 
spirits  of  the  dead,  or  to  God  through  departed  spirits, 
but  directly  to  God. 

There  are,  then,  at  least  two  sources  from  whence 
disclosures  are  made  —  a  good  and  an  evil  source  ;  and 
two  characters  through  which  they  are  made  —  the 
righteous  and  the  wicked.  Through  the  righteous 
only  are  revealed  the  secrets  of  God  ;  and  through  the 
wicked,  lying  wonders  and  the  mystery  of  iniquity. 
These  revelations  are  as  antithetical  to  each  other  as 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  229 

light  and  darkness,  or  as  the  two  characters  through 
which  they  are  revealed.  If  either  one  is  true,  the 
other  must  be  false.  The  revelations  made  by  the 
holy  prophets  and  apostles  can  never  be  made  to  har- 
monize with  those  made  by  modern  mediums.  Yet 
there  are  a  few  zealous  advocates  of  the  latter  who  pre- 
tend to  believe  in  the  former.  But  it  is  said  truth  is 
revealed ;  and  it  must  be  from  a  good  source,  for  truth 
cannot  proceed  from  an  evil  fountain.  This  is  sheer 
assumption.  The  devil  himself  has  been  known  to 
tell  a  most  sacred  truth.  He  said  to  our  Savior,  "  I 
know  thee  who  thou  art,  the  Holy  One  of  God."  A 
more  sacred  truth  was  never  uttered.  Again :  "  And 
the  evil  spirit  answered  and  said,  Jesus  I  know,  and 
Paul  I  know 5  but  who  are  ye?" 

Moreover,  he  has  frequently  quoted  the  Scriptures 
of  divine  truth.  If  he  does  not  intend  to  inculcate 
some  truth,  the  better  to  carry  out  his  purposes,  he 
would  not  refer  us  to  the  word  of  truth. 

He  is  the  great  deceiver ;  yet  he  does  not,  generally, 
teach  in  plain  terms  a  disregard  for  truth ;  but  on  the 
contrary,  when  occasion  calls,  pretends  to  have  a 
sacred  esteem  for  it,  and  often  uses  it  to  subserve  his 
own  wicked  ends. 

But  it  is  said,  also,  that  this  work  cannot  be  of  the 
devil ;  for  if  so,  he  must  be  an  omnipresent  being. 
This  is  equivalent  to  saying  there  is  no  devil,  which 
he  who  says  gives  very  good  evidence  that  he  is  be- 
ginning, unawares,  to  train  under  his  influence.  For 
if  he  can  do  nothing  now,  because  he  is  not  omnipre*s- 
ent,  there  never  was  a  time  when  he  could.  So  the 
conclusion  must  be,  that  he  never  had  any  thing  to  do 
in  the  acts  of  men,  and  hence  he  never  existed.  But 
the  Scriptaire  informs  us  that  he  has  existed ;  and  until 
20 


230  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

a  record  of  his  death  can  be  found,  we  have  no  au- 
thority to  deny  his  beings  or  his  present  power  to  do 
evil. 

But  it  is  often  said,  If  this  is  of  the  devil,  by  what 
agency  does  he  do  these  things  ?  that  is,  how  does  he 
make  the  raps,  tip  tables,  &c.  ?  But  if  they  are  done 
by  the  spirits  of  the  dead,  it  is  as  great  a  mystery  by 
what  agency  they  do  it.  If  it  is  by  the  invisible  and 
personal  presence  of  the  spirits  of  the  dead  by  any 
agency,  it  may,  by  the  same  agency,  also  be  done  by 
the  invisible  and  personal  presence  of  evil  spirits,  or 
devils. 

We  have  no  proof  that  the  former  exist,  but  abun- 
dant proof  that  the  latter  do.  Satan  "  smote  Job  with 
sore  boils  from  the  sole  of  his  foot  unto  his  crown." 
The  fact  is  revealed,  and  if  we  attempt  to  be  wise 
above  what  is  written,  we  put  ourselves  in  a  position 
to  trifle  with  the  word,  and  to  be  led  away  by  the 
tem  pter. 

Again  :  it  is  said,  if  this  is  of  the  devil,  why  is  he  suf- 
fered to  work  so  complete  a  deception  ?  God,  being 
of  infinite  power  and  goodness,  would  not  suffer  him 
to  deceive  the  whole  world  ;  therefore  it  cannot  be  a  de- 
ception. It  might  as  well  be  said  that  a  God  of  infinite 
power  and  goodness  would  not  suffer  the  whole  world 
to  be  wicked  ;  and,  therefore,  the  world  is  not  wicked. 
The  fact  is,  the  great  delusion  is  the  legitimate  off"- 
spring  of  the  great  wicked.  It  is  just  what  has  fol- 
lowed as  a  consequence  of  wickedness  in  every  age  of 
the  world,  and,  in  the  Scriptures,  is  every  where  con- 
sidered as  an  evidence  of  a  departure  from  God  and 
holiness. 

We  shall  here  notice  what  the  advocates  of  spiritual 
manifestations  seem   to  rely  upon  as  their  strongest 


OPPOSITION     LINE.  231 

argument ;  that  is,  "  God  is  unchangeable ;  therefore 
what  he  has  formerly  done  he  is  now  doing  ;  and  if  he 
ever  gave  revelations  to  men,  he  is  now  giving  them 
through  modern  mediums."  But  this  argument,  to 
those  who  use  it,  is  worse  than  useless.  For,  in  the 
first  place,  how  do  they  know  that  God  is  unchangeable  ? 
They  certainly  have  no  means  of  knowing  it  but  by  the 
Scriptures ;  and  these  their  spiritual  manifestations 
lead  them  to  believe  are  false.  But  admit  that  God  is 
unchangeable,  and  what  he  has  done  he  is  now  doing, 
and  it  involves  them  in  a  difficulty  from  which  it  is 
impossible  to  extricate  themselves ;  that  is,  to  prove 
that  he  has  formerly  manifested  himself  to  the  living 
through  the  dead.  This  they  cannot  do  ;  therefore  their 
argument  fails  them,  and  more  than  fails  them,  because 
the  Scriptures  do  prove  that  his  former  mode  of  giving 
revelations  was  by  his  Holy  Spirit,  or  by  angelic  agen- 
cies ;  and  more,  unless  he  has  changed  his  modus 
operandi^  he  cannot  give  them  through  the  spirits  of  the 
dead.  Again :  we  have  shown  that  the  principles 
brought  to  view  in  divine  revelations  are  repugnant  to 
those  brought  to  view  in  spiritual  manifestations ;  and 
if  those  are  of  God,  these  are  not,  unless  God  has 
changed.  Again  :  I  deny  their  right  in  toto  to  base  an 
argument  on  any  thing  revealed  in  Scripture  until  they 
acknowledge  its  divine  and  sacred  truth. 

But  an  argument  founded  on  the  immutability  of 
God  may  be  used  to  advantage  against  rapping  spirit- 
ualism. It  is  this :  God  is  unchangeable,  (which  is 
admitted  ;)  therefore  what  he  has  done  he  is  now  doing ; 
and  if  he  suffered  the  devil  formerly  to  deceive  men,  he 
is  now  suffering  him  to  deceive  them  in  the  same  way ; 
and  if  necromancy,  or  pretending  to  deal  with  the  spirits 
of  the  dead,  was  formerly  an  evil  in  his  sight,  it  is  now.. 


232  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

Again  :  without  the  least  necessity  of  spiritual  man- 
ifestations, God  is  doing  in  this  age  just  what  he  has 
done  in  all  ages ;  that  is,  confirming  the  truth  of  his 
word,  either  by  a  fulfilment  of  it  or  by  miracles.  This 
age  is  peculiarly  prolific  in  the  fulfilment  of  sacred 
prophecy ;  so  much  so  as  to  leave  no  room  for  the  can- 
did to  doubt  the  truth  of  it. 

But  the  advocates  of  spiritual  disclosures  are  hard 
pressed  for  sound  argument  every  way.  They  claim 
at  this  time  the  fulfilment  of  Joel's  prophecy  in  their 
manifestations.  (See  Joel  xi.  28,  29.)  But  it  is  evi- 
dent their  claim  is  premature.  The  prophecy  is  not  to 
be  fulfilled  in  this  state  of  things,  but,  "And  it  shall 
come  to  pass  afterwards ; "  that  is,  after  the  things 
spoken  of  above  ;  that  is,  the  restitution  of  all  things, 
which  has  not  yet  come  to  pass. 

The}^  have  reason  to  fear  that  their  manifestations 
are  a  fulfilment  of  prophecies  which  they  would  not 
relish  quite  as  well,  such  as  the  following  :  "  Now  the 
Spirit  speaketh  expressly,  that  in  the  latter  times  some 
shall  depart  from  the  faith,  giving  heed  to  seducing 
spirits  and  doctrines  of  devils."  (1  Tim.  iii.  13.)  "  But 
evil  men  and  seducers  shall  wax  worse  and  worse,  de- 
ceiving and  being  deceived."  (2  Tim.  iii.  13.)  "  But 
there  were  false  prophets  also  among  the  people,  even 
as  there  shall  be  false  teachers  among  you,  who  privily 
shall  bring  in  damnable  heresies,  even  denying  the 
Lord  that  bought  them,  and  bring  upon  themselves 
swift  destruction.  And  many  shall  follow  their  perni- 
cious ways,  by  reason  of  whom  the  way  of  truth  shall 
be  evil  spoken  of."  (2  Peter  ii.  1,  2.)  "  For  the 
devil  is  come  down  unto  you,  having  great  wrath,  be- 
cause he  knoweth  that  he  hath  but  a  short  time." 
(Rev.  xii.  12.) 


OPPOSITION    LINE. 

Now,  when  are  these  prophecies  to  be  fulfilled  ? 
Not  in  the  millennium,  when  all  will  know  the  Lord, 
from  the  least  to  the  greatest ;  but  ^Hn  the  latter  times^^''  or 
close  of  this  dispensation.  But  if  spiritual  disclosures 
are  destined  to  bring  the  w^orld  to  the  knowledge  of 
ihe  truth,  they  must  have  been  fulfilled  prior  to  spiritual 
manifestations;  and  we  ask  what  "doctrine  of  devils  " 
was  embraced  just  before  rapping  spiritualism  ?  If  it 
be  replied,  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible,  then  I  ask  what 
faith  the  spiritualists  have  departed  from  ?  It  must 
be  faith  in  the  word  of  God.  But  this  makes  the 
prophecy  find  a  fulfilment  in  spiritualists  themselves- 

As  far  as  we  are  able  to  learn,  they  do  not  deny 
departing  from  the  apostolic  faith  ;  that  is,  those  that 
ever  had  it  to  depart  from  ;  and  this  alone  is  a  com- 
plete fulfilment  of  that  part  of  the  prophecy.  And  yet 
they  tell  us  the  Bible  is  not  true,  and  demand  of  us  the 
proof  of  it,  while  they  are  fulfilling  it  to  the  very  letter. 

After  all  that  has  been  said  concerning  the  wonderful 
mesmeric  disclosures  that  have  been  made,  of  sucli  a 
nature  as  to  forbid  the  possibility  of  a  delusion,  those 
very  disclosures  are  a  proof  of  the  enormous  deception, 
in  a  remarkable  fulfilment  of  the  word  of  God.  This 
can  be  proved  by  Scripture,  and  ought  to  put  the  thing 
forever  at  rest.  We  call  attention  to  Ezek.  xiv.  3,  4. 
"  Son  of  man,  these  men  have  set  up  their  idols  in  their 
heart,  and  put  the  stumbling  block  of  their  iniquity 
before  their  face;  should  I  be  inquired  of  at  all  by 
ihein  ?  Every  man  of  the  house  of  Israel  that  setteth 
up  his  idols  in  his  heart,  and  putteth  the  stumbling 
block  of  his  iniquity  before  his  face,  and  cometh  to  the 
prophet,  I  the  Lord  will  answer  him  that  cometh  ac- 
cording to  the  multitude  of  his  idols." 

Several  points  in  this  text  claim  attention.  And 
20* 


234  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

first,  it  is  not  God  who  puts  the  stumbling  block  before 
the  people,  but  the  people  theraselve:^,  by  setting  up 
idols  of  divination  in  their  hearts.  And  yet  they  are 
saying.  If  "  spiritual  disclosures"  are  of  the  devil,  why 
does  God  put  such  a  great  stumbling  block  before  our 
faces  ?  Why,  rather,  do  we  put  them  before  our  own 
faces?  If  people  would  seek  unto  God  rather  than 
unto  the  dead,  as  they  are  commanded,  the  stumbling 
block  would  be  out  of  the  way  at  once.  But  through 
our  own  iniquity  we  put  it  before  our  eyes,  and  then 
foolishly  charge  it  upon  God,  and  wonder  how  spirit- 
ual disclosures  can  appear  so  real  and  afford  us  such 
consolation,  and  yet  be  of  the  devil.  No  wonder  at 
all.  God  says,  in  the  text,  he  will  answer  us  according^ 
to  the  multitude  of  our  idols  which  we  set  up  in  our 
hearts.  If  we  make  divining  by  the  dead  an  idol  in 
the  heart,  we  shall  be  answered  according  to  our  expec- 
tations ;  for  such  is  the  import  of  the  text.  And  we 
have  abundantly  proved  that  a  general  feature  in  mes- 
merism is,  that  experiments  in  it  prove  the  anticipations, 
creeds,  and  theories  of  its  experimenters. 

"But  some  man  will  say,"  It  is  not  so  with  me;  I 
did  not  set  it  up  in  my  heart  or  believe  it ;  I  only  went 
to  investigate  it,  and  found  it  true. 

That  is  the  fatal  error ;  you  should  have  sought  unto 
God,  and  not  "  the  living  unto  the  dead."  It  v/as 
there  you  departed  from  the  commandment  of  God, 
and  took  the  stumbling  block  along  with  you;  and  the 
devil  was  ready  to  help  you  set  it  up,  and  you  are 
perfectly  satisfied  with  it.  Had  you  obeyed  God  in  the 
first  place,  you  never  would  have  been  deceived  by 
what  God  has  forbidden  you  to  approach. 

"  And  the  soul  that  turneth  after  such  as  have 
familiar   spirits,   and    after  wizards,  to  go  a-whoring 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  236 

after  them,  1  will  even  set  my  face  against  that  soul, 
and  will  cut  him  off  from  among  his  people."  (Lev. 
XX.  6.) 

This  going  to  investigate  the  spiritual  disclosures 
has  ruined  many  a  one,  and  is  likely  to  ruin  many 
more.  Strange  infatuation!  What!  throw  yourself 
awav  to  the  devil,  to  see  if  there  is  a  devil  to  receive 
you? 

If  a  man  has  no  doubts  about  vjhat  it  is,  he  would 
never  investigate  it  to  learn  what  it  is ;  and  if  he  has 
doubts,  they  grow  out  of  his  want  of  faith  in  the  word 
of  God,  which  informs  us  that  it  is  an  abomination  in 
his  sight,  and  that  he  Vvdll  set  his  face  against  such  as 
turn  after  it ;  and  when  God  sets  his  face  against  us, 
we  are  prepared  to  fall  in  with  the  spiritual  manifesta- 
tions with  but  little  investigation.  Reader,  if  you  are 
of  this  class,  let  me  admonish  you,  in  the  love  and 
fear  of  God,  to  investigate  it  once  more,  not  by  the 
RAPS  or  by  the  tipping  of  tables,  but  by  "  the  law 
and  the  testimony, "  as  God  has  commanded. 

"  And  when  they  shall  say  unto  you.  Seek  unto  them 
that  have  familiar  spirits,  and  unto  wizards  that  peep 
and  mutter :  should  not  a  people  seek  unto  their 
God  ?  for  the  living  to  the  dead  ?  To  the  law  and  to 
the  testimony :  if  they  speak  not  according  to  this 
word,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light  in  them."  (Is. 
viii.  19,  20.) 

WITCHCRAFT  FORBIDDEN. 

"  And  I  will  cut  off  witchcrafts  out  of  thine  hand; 
and  thou  shalt  have  no  more  soothsayers."  (Mic. 
V.  12.) 

Fearful    are  the  judgments    of  God  threatened  of 


236  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

those  who  practise  this  sin.  "  Thou  shalt  not  suffer  a 
witch  to  live."  (Ex.  xxii.  18.)  "  A  man  or  a  woman 
that  hath  a  familiar  spirit  shall  surely  be  put  to  death: 
they  shall  stone  them  with  stones  :  their  blood  shall  be 
upon  them."      (Lev.  xx.  27.) 

"But  these  two  things  shall  come  upon  thee  in  a 
moment,  in  one  day  —  the  loss  of  children  and  widow- 
hood: they  shall  come  upon  thee  in  their  perfection, 
for  the  multitude  of  thy  sorceries,  and  for  the  great 
abundance  of  thy  enchantments."  (Is.  xlvii.  9-13.) 
Paul  thus  addresses  Elymus  the  sorcerer :  "  O  full 
of  all  subtil ty  and  ixiischief,  thou  child  of  the  de- 
vil, thou  enemy  of  all  righteousness,  wilt  thou  not 
cease  to  pervert  the  right  ways  of  the  Lord?  "  (Acts 
xiii.  10.) 

The  charge  alleged  against  sorcerers,  especially  in 
the  New  Testament,  is,  they  resist  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  seek  to  turn  people  away  from  the  faith.  This  is 
just  what  is  now  done  by  people  called  mediums. 

Their  end  is  declared  in  Rev.  xxi.  8.  They  "  shall 
have  their  part  in  the  lake  which  burneth  with  fire  and 
brimstone  ;  which  is  the  second  death." 

Nowhere  has  effect  ever  been  known  to  follow  cause 
more  manifestly  than  in  psychology.  We  appeal  to 
every  one  acquainted  with  it,  and  risk  nothing  in 
saying,  that,  in  proportion  as  it  is  believed,  true  Chris- 
tian faith  is  w^anting.  The  very  nature  of  the  thing  is 
to  turn  people  away  from  the  faith,  without  which 
it  is  impossible  to  please  God.  And  those  who  do 
this  are  called,  in  Scripture,  children  of  the  devil,  and 
are  said  to  be  full  of  all  subtilty  and  mischief.  Now, 
there  need  be  no  quibbling  whether  psychology  and 
sorcery  are  one  and  the  same  thing;  they  have  the 
same  effect;  both  turn  away  from  the  faith. 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  237 

MODERN    DIVINATION. 

Divination  is  one  of  the  sins  which  the  people  of 
Israel  were  forbidden  to  practise,  and  of  which  we 
have  spoken  at  the  commencement  of  this  chapter.  We 
proceed  to  detail  the  various  ways  in  which  it  is  prac- 
tised at  present. 

To  the  various  methods  of  divining  practised  by  the 
ancients,  the  moderns  have  added  several  new  ones; 
among  which  is  the  practice  of  telling  fortunes  by 
the  dregs  of  a  teacup,  or  by  a  pack  of  playing  cards ; 
by  observing  the  moon  for  the  first  time  after  the  change, 
and  by  its  place  in  the  ecliptic,  called  signs. 

To  these  may  be  added  the  first  robin,  swallow, 
snake,  &c.,  seen  in  the  spring. 

Now,  to  tell  fortunes  by  the  teacup  or  cards,  nothing 
is  necessary  but  confidence  in  the  mode  and  a  determi- 
nation to  succeed.  With  these  prerequisites  one  may 
begin,  and,  for  the  first  time,  tell  just  what  he  happens 
to  think  of  first :  some  of  it  may  be  true,  and  some  may 
not ;  but  continue  to  make  repeated  trials,  and  proclaim 
yourself  ^fortune  teller^  and  it  will  not  be  long  before 
you  will  be  surprised  at  your  own  success ;  and  as 
your  faith  increases,  your  reputation  will  increase  also, 
and  you  will  soon  become  renoivned.  But  if  your  con- 
science should  happen  to  sting  you,  and  you  should 
perceive  that  your  success  is  a  fulfilment  of  that  Scrip- 
ture which  says  God  will  answer  according  to  the 
multitude  of  our  idols  by  which  we  divine,  and  set  up 
in  our  hearts,  and  you  should  seek  unto  the  Lord  for 
wisdom,  your  fortune  telling  would  be  at  an  end.  It 
is  with  that  as  with  mesmerism :  the  author  has  tried 
them  both,  and  has  found  that,  to  be  successful 
in    any   of   these    things,   it    is    not    necessary    that 


238  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

a  person  should  be  the  seventh  son,  or  be  born 
with  a  veil  over  the  face,  or  under  any  particular 
planet ;  for  there  are  7ione  born  above  the  planets. 
Neither  is  it  necessary  that  a  person  should  be  of  a 
peculiar  temperament  to  be  a  good  mesmerizer  or 
medium.  Any  one  can  be  a  good  mesmerizer,  me- 
dium, witch,  wizard,  or  fortune  teller,  by  abandoning 
himself  entirely  to  the  influence,  fearless  of  all  con- 
sequences. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  Why  does  a  seventh  son,  or 
one  born  with  a  veil  over  the  face,  succeed  better  in 
these  things  than  others  ?  Because  they  are  sought 
unto  as  diviners,  and  have  been  taught  that  they  are 
such  by  nature ;  and,  believing  that  they  are,  they 
abandon  themselves  to  the  influence  and  to  the  prac- 
tice with  more  confidence  than  others ;  therefore,  they 
generally  succeed  better.  This  is  only  being  an- 
swered according  to  their  idols  —  their  pretended 
birthright  faculty  being  the  stumbling  block  which 
they  set  up  before  their  faces. 

It  is  strictly  in  accordance  to  the  general  feature  in 
mesmerism,  in  all  its  forms  ;  that  is,  as  we  have  all 
along  shown,  experiments  in  it  prove  the  theory  of 
the  parties  concerned.  We  have  shown  that  every 
thing  in  it  depends  on  the  will  of  the  operator.  So 
in  telling  fortunes,  looking  through  a  blue  stone,  &c. 
A  seventh  son,  or  one  born  with  a  veil  over  the  face, 
has  been  taught  to  believe  he  can  do  it;  and  he  wills 
to  do  it,  and  does  do  it ;  and  so  coidd  any  one  else 
with  the  S'dme  faith  and  ivillj  and  the  same  disregard 
to  the  commands  of  God. 

Some  people  seem  to  think,  because  a  table  tips 
towards  them,  indicating  them  to  be  a  medium,  that 
they  are  highly  favored  of  Heaven,  being  born  with 


OPPOSITION    LINE. 


239 


some  peculiar  privileges  that  others  have  not.  Proud 
of  this  (as  they  think)  natural  advantage,  they  are 
unqualified  to  resist  this  first  temptation  of  the  devil, 
but  yield  implicitly,  a  willing  instrument  in  his  hands, 
to  perform  the  blackest  deeds  of  sorcery  and  witch- 
craft, under  the  popular  and  fascinating  term,  medium  ; 
as  though  there  was  something  in  its  modern  name 
capable  of  averting  the  indignation  and  judgments 
of  God  threatened  on  those  who  practised  it  under 
its  ancient  names. 

Idolatrous  divinations  are  common  at  the  present 
day.  Many  very  zealously  believe  that  the  new 
moon,  seen  for  the  first  time  over  the  right  or  left 
shoulder,  is  ominous  of  good  or  ill  fortune  until  the 
next  change.  This  generally  proves  true  in  proportion 
to  the  faith  in  the  omen.  The  ancients  divined  by 
it,  and  by  the  stars  and  planets  ;  as  also  by  the  clouds, 
&c.  But  God  has  forbidden  it.  Others  consult  the 
moon's  place,  or  signs,  so  called,  in  sowing  or  plant- 
ing, weaning  calves,  &c.  These  are  the  relics  of 
heathen  divination,  and  is  a  God-forbidden  practice. 
In  the  light  of  science,  nothing  is  more  ridiculous. 
Since  astronomers  first  gave  the  present  names  to  the 
constellations  of  the  zodiac,  by  the  annual  precession 
of  the  equinoxes,  every  sign  has  retrograded  more 
than  thirty  degrees,  or  a  whole  sign,  from  its  former 
position  in  the  heavens  ;  and  since,  in  the  order  of  the 
signs,  Aries  (the  head)  precedes  Pisces,  (the  feet,)  the, 
sign  Aries  is  now  in  the  constellation  of  Pisces,  (the 
feet.)  So,  when  we  say  the  sign  is  in  the  head,  if  it 
is  really  any  where,  it  is  in  the  feet. 

So  also  of  Leo,  (the  heart.)  The  sign  is  said  to 
be  in  the  heart  when  the  moon  is  in  the  constellation 
of   Cancer,  (the  breast ;)  and  the   astronomer  knows 


mo 


THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 


this  difference  ;  but  as  the  farmer  does  not  always 
know  it,  his  calves  never  find  it  out;  so,  if  he  turns 
them  out  to  wean  when  he  thinks  the  sign  is  in  the 
heart,  they  will  bleat  just  as  well  as  though  it  was 
there. 

Again :  the  influence,  if  there  is  any,  must  come 
from  the  stars  in  the  constellations ;  and  they  are 
known  to  be  one  hundred  thousand  times  farther  off 
than  the  diameter  of  the  earth's  orbit  —  a  distance 
which  chain  lightning,  darting  round  the  equator  of 
our  earth  eight  times  in  a  second,  would  be  three 
years  in  passing  over.  Since  it  is  admitted  that  light- 
ning has  the  most  rapid  motion  of  any  thing  in 
nature,  the  bleating  influence  coming  from,  a  star  to  a 
calf  would  not  affect  him  in  less  than  three  years 
after  he  was  first  turned  out  to  wean. 

But  it  is  often  said,  as  the  moon  affects  the  ocean, 
why  not  our  crops,  and  the  different  parts  of  the 
animal  body  ?  It  might  as  well  be  said,  as  the  moon 
affects  the  ocean,  why  not  the  water  in  our  springs 
and  wells  ?  The  fact  is,  her  attraction  affects  the 
earth  as  a  whole,  and  no  more  the  water  than  the 
land.  Plants  and  animals,  as  parts  of  the  same 
great  whole,  are  equally  attracted  according  to  their 
weight,  twice  alike  in  twenty-five  hours ;  and  since 
her  special  influence  cannot  be  detected  on  so  large 
an  area  as  Lake  Superior,  it  cannot  be  perceived  on  a 
bed  of  onions,  a  few  acres  of  flax,  or  so  small  a  thing 
as  a  calf.  But  if  these  things  are  so,  it  may  be 
asked  why  astronomers  still  perpetuate  the  error,  by 
giving  in  their  almanacs  the  moon's  place,  first  in  the 
head,  and  so  on  to  the  feet.  It  should  be  understood 
that  almanacs,  like  Peter  Pindar's  razors,  are  made  to 
selL     Many  people  consult  thern  as  much  to  learn 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  241 

where  the  sign  is  as  for  any  thing  else.  The  almanac 
maker  knows  better ;  but  he  must  sell  his  work,  or  he 
would  not  publish  it ;  and  to  make  it  a  business 
matter,  it  must  meet  the  whims  of  the  public.  If 
the  people  did  not  believe  in  these  things,  they  would 
no  longer  be  found  in  almanacs.  They  are  found 
there  because  many  people  believe  them ;  and  the 
same  believe  them  because  they  are  found  there. 
Just  like  many  false  doctrines  of  religion  ;  none  can 
be  so  false  but  that  somebody  will  preach  it ;  and 
because  it  is  preached,  somebody  will  believe  it,  an|i 
that  because  iiis  preached;  while  the  only  reason  that 
it  is  preached  is,  because  some  people  believe  it. 

Such  is  the  way  of  the  world  — "  deceiving  and 
being  deceived."  For  instance  :  a  man  believing  in 
error  will  not  read  a  book,  or  hear  a  man  preach,  that 
does  not  sustain  his  views;  so  he  virtually  offers  a 
reward  to  any  one  who  will  deceive  him  or  confirm 
him  in  his  error ;  and  in  this  money-loving  world, 
somebody  will  do  it.  And  now,  as  we  value  a  thing 
in  proportion  to  what  it  costs  us,  we  are  not  apt  to 
pay  a  large  price  for  a  thing,  and  then  give  it  away. 
So  a  man  who  pays  the  greatest  price  for  being 
deceived  is  less  likely  to  give  up  his  error,  even  if  he 
can  get  the  truth  gratis. 
21 


242  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 


CHAPTER    XV. 

PSYCHOLOGY  A  SUBJECT  OF    SCRIPTURE   PROPHECY.  — 
THE  MAN  OF  SIN.  —  THE  DEVIL.  —  CONCLUSIONS. 

"And  I  saw  three  unclean  spirits  like  frogs  come  out 
of  the  mouth  of  the  dragon,  and  out  of  the  mouth  of 
the  beast,  and  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  false  prophet. 
For  they  are  the  spirits  of  devils  working  miracles, 
which  go  forth  unto  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  of  the 
whole  world,  to  gather  them  to  the  battle  of  that  great 
day  of  God  Almighty."     (Rev.  xvi.  13,  14.) 

What  the  dragon,  the  beast,  and  the  false  prophet 
symbolize  in  this  text  is  a  matter  of  much  speculation, 
and  one  that  has  given  rise  to  many  conflicting  theo- 
ries. Bat  as  we  intend  to  present  facts  in  preference 
to  creeds,  it  is  sufficient  for  our  purpose  to  consider 
them  as  three  principal  powers  opposed  to  the  pure 
gospel  of  Christ  —  viz.,  pagan  power,  false  religious 
power,  and  false  prophetic  power.  Now,  call  these 
what  we  may  in  theory,  they  are  in  effect  symbol- 
ically the  same. 

John  saw  three  unclean  spirits,  like  frogs,  out  of  the 
mouth  of  these  symbols.  A  frog  is  an  unclean  crea- 
ture. It  is  among  the  unclean  things  forbidden  the 
Israelites  to  eat.  (Lev.  xi.  10.  Deut.  xiv.  10.)  It  lives 
in  two  elements,  or  spheres  —  air  and  mud.  The  frog- 
like doctrine  of  psychology  teaches  that  the  psyche  is 
capable  of  living  in  the  body  and  in  the  upper  harmo- 
nial  spheres.  This  we  have  shown  in  the  ninth  chap- 
ter of  this  work  and  elsewhere.     It  is  also  maintained 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  243 

by  the  advocates  of  psychology,  that  under  its  influence 
the  psyche  ascends  to  heaven,  and  yet  without  death. 
So,  like  the  frog,  it  lives  in  the  body,  (the  mud,)  and  in 
air,  (the  spirit  world,)  and  does  not  suffer  death  in  pass- 
ing from  one  sphere  to  the  other. 

As  to  the  doctrine  of  rapping  spiritualism^  it  is  a 
medley  of  paganism^  anti-  Christianity^  and  false  proph- 
ecy. That  it  is  a  retrogradation  to  heathenism  we  have 
abundantly  shown,  both  from  its  ancient  origin  and 
principles,  and  that  it  is  the  greatest  of  all  false  proph- 
ecy.    (See  Chapter  IV.) 

Its  advocates  themselves  are  not  bashful  in  saying 
it  is  destined  to  usher  in  a  new  era  far  more  glorious 
than  any  thing  which  has  ever  gone  before  it.  As  these 
things  have  been  sufficiently  shown  in  this  work,  we 
pass  to  the  second  part  of  the  text. 

"  For  they  are  the  spirits  of  devils  working  mira- 
cles,'' &c. 

We  have  shown  that  they  are  the  spirits  of  devils, — 

1st.  By  their  mysterious  deceptions,  false  pretensions 
to  science,  and  consulting  with  the  dead,  &c. 

2d.  By  their  tendency,  which  is  evil,  and  only  evil ;  and 

3d.  By  the  plain  word  of  God. 

They  are,  therefore,  emphatically,  "  the  spirits  of 
devils." 

The  miracles  they  are  working  are  the  wonder  and 
astonishment  of  the  world.  The  going  forth  unto  the 
KINGS  of  the  earth  and  the  whole  world  is  having  a 
remarkably  rapid  fulfilment.* 

*  The  following  is  from  an  Amherst  (Mass.)  paper,  dated  Friday 
morning,  April  25,  1851  :  — 

"  Destiny  carefully  calculated  and  set  on  paper.  Astrology.  The 
celebrated  Dr.  C.  W.  E-oback,  professor  of  astrology,  astronomy, 
thronology,  and  geomancy,  combined  with  conjuration,  from  Sweden, 


244  THE  SPIRITUAL  TELEGRAPHIC 

"  To  GATHER  THEM  TO  THE  BATTLE  OF  THAT  GREAT 

DAY  OF   God  Almighty." 

This  is  the  end  of  the  "  strong  delusion^ 
"  Behold,  I  come  as  a  thief.  Blessed  is  he  that 
watcheth,  and  keepeth  his  garments,  lest  he  walk 
naked,  and  they  see  his  shame.  And  he  gathered  them 
together  into  a  place  called  in  the  Hebrew  tongue  Ar- 
mageddon. And  the  seventh  angel  poured  out  his 
vial  into  the  air ;  and  there  came  a  great  voice  out  of 
heaven,  from  the  throne,  saying,  It  is  done." 

The  revelator  has  marked  out  the  future  pathway  of 
the  church  of  God  from  the  first  to  the  second  advent 
of  our  Lord,  the  Alpha  and  Omega  of  the  church  in  its 
seven  states  or  conditions,  represented  by  the  seven 

office  No.  71  Locust  Street,  Philadelphia,  offers  his  services  to  the 
citizens  of  Amherst.  He  has  been  consulted  by  all  the  crowned  heads 
of  Europe,  and  enjoys  a  higher  reputation  as  an  astrologer  than  any 
one  living.  Nativities  calculated  according  to  geomancy  —  ladies 
$3,  gentlemen  $5.  Persons  at  a  distance  can  have  t]\eir  nativities 
drawn  by  sending  the  date  of  the  day  of  their  birth.  All  letters 
containing  the  above  fee  vt^ill  receive  immediate  attention,  and  nativ- 
ities sent  to  any  part  of  the  w^orld  written  on  durable  paper ;  and  he  is 
prepared  to  make  use  of  his  power  by  conjuration  on  any  of  the  fol- 
lowing topics  :  Courtship,  advice  given  for  the  successful  accomplish- 
ment of  a  wealthy  marriage  ;  he  has  the  power  to  redeem  such  as  are 
given  to  the  free  use  of  the  bottle  ;  and  for  all  cases  of  hazard,  and 
for  the  recovery  of  stolen  or  lost  property,  and  the  purchasing  of  lot- 
tery tickets.  Thousands  of  the  above-named  cases  have  been  done  in 
this  city  and  its  vicinity,  and  in  the  United  States,  to  the  full  satisfac- 
tion of  all.  Ten  thousand  nativities  or  horoscopes  have  been  cast 
during  the  last  four  years  while  here.  Letters  will  answer  every  pur- 
pose, and  will  do  as  well  as  to  call  in  person  ;  and  the  mail  is  now  so 
safe  that  persons  need  not  fear  to  trust  money  through  the  post 
office.  Dr.  Roback  receives  from  five  hundred  to  one  thousand 
letters  monthly,  and  has  never  missed  one.  All  letters  will  be  reli- 
giously attended  to  if  prepaid.  For  more  particulars,  call  at  the  office 
of  the  Express,  and  get  an  astrological  almanac  gratis. 

C.    W.    ROBACK, 


OPPOSITION    LINfi.  S45 

churches  of  Asia,  with  an  express  message  to  the  angel 
(or  minister)  of  each  ;  and  what  he  saw  he  was  com- 
manded to  write  in  a  book,  and  send  to  the  seven 
churches  in  Asia,  that  each  church  might  know  her 
whereabouts  on  the  page  of  history,  and  also  the  pecu- 
liar trials  and  afflictions  she  would  be  called  to  pass 
through.  And  we  cannot  doubt  but  we  are  now  in 
the  Laodicean  state  ;  lukewarm,  neither  cold  nor  hot, 
saying,  "  I  am  rich,  and  increased  in  goods,  and  have 
need  of  nothing  ;  "  yet  "  wretched,  and  miserable,  and 
poor,  and  blind,  and  naked." 

As  this  is  the  state  of  the  church  militant,  it  must 
witness  the  pouring  out  of  the  seventh  vial  ;  for  there 
are  seven,  and  in  them  is  filled  up  the  wrath  of  God. 
In  this  state  of  things  will  be  seen  three  unclean  spirits 
(the  word  coming  is  not  in  the  original)  out  of  the 
mouth  of  the  dragon,  &c.,  and  working  miracles,  which 
the  w^orld  is  now  witnessing,  and  which  will  gather  the 
kings  of  the  earth  and  the  whole  world  to  the  battle 
of  that  great  day  of  God  Almighty,  which  will  be  the 
last  and  most  terrible  conflict  between  Christ  and  Anti- 
christ, to  be  decided  in  favor  of  the  former,  by  the 
pouring  out  of  the  seventh  vial,  which  will  destroy  the 
power  symbolized  by  the  woman  sitting  on  the  scarlet- 
colored  beast,*  and  all  her  attendant  train  ;  when  the 
final,  victorious  shout  will  be  heard,  "  as  the  voice  of  a 
great  multitude,  and  as  the  voice  of  many  waters,  and 
as  the  voice  of  mighty  thunderings,  saying.  Alleluia  ; 
for  the  Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth." 

Some  are  expecting  the  great  battle  is  soon  to  com- 
mence, and  that  the  present  unsettled  state  of  Europe 
is  the  precursor  of  that  event.     But  in   the  text  it   is 

*  Out  of  the  mouth  of  which  came  one  of  the  firog-like  spirits. 

21* 


246  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

denominated  the  "  battle  of  that  great  day  of  God  Al- 
mighty," not  the  battle  of  that  great  day  of  Europe. 

Though  the  European  powers,  and  even  the  whole 
world,  should  join  in  one  general  conflict,  it  could  not 
be  the  battle  referred  to  in  the  text.  For  it  must  be 
fought  in  that  "  great  day  of  the  Lord  ;  "  and  he  must 
be  here  to  fight  it.  (See  Rev.  xix.  19.)  Neither  is 
the  belligerent  aspect  of  the  nations  a  precursor  of 
the  immediate  ushering  in  of  that  day.  For  the 
Savior,  speaking  of  these  things,  said,  "  And  ye  shall 
hear  of  wars  and  rumors  of  wars  :  see  that  ye  be  not 
troubled ;  for  all  these  things  must  come  to  pass,  but 
the  end  is  not  yet.  For  nation  shall  rise  against 
nation,  and  kingdom  against  kingdom,  &c.  All  these 
things  are  the  beginning  of  sorrows,"  not  the  end 
of  them.  The  expected  outbreak  in  Europe  may  take 
place  soon  ;  but  "  see  that  ye  are  not  troubled,  for  the 
end  is  not  yet."  There  is  a  greater  battle  to  be  fought 
at  the  end  than  which  wicked  nations  alone  are  able 
to  fight.  Indeed,  they  cannot  fight  the  battle  of  Ar- 
mageddon, for  they  are  all  on  one  side,  and  none  left 
for  them  to  fight  against ;  for  it  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  battle  of  Armageddon  is  the  Lord's 
battle,  in  which  the  two  great  armies  will  be,  one  for 
Christ,  and  the  other  for  Antichrist,  the  man  of  sin. 

There  is  a  prevalent  opinion  that  in  the  "  day  of 
the  Lord "  there  will  be  no  fighting.  But  we  appeal 
to  the  word  :  Zech.  xiv.,  "  Behold,  the  day  of  the 
Lord  cometh,  and  thy  spoil  shall  be  divided  in  the 
midst  of  thee.  For  I  will  gather  all  nations  against 
Jerusalem  to  battle,  &c.  Then  shall  the  Lord  go 
forth,  and  fight  against  those  nations,  as  when  he 
fought  in  the  day  of  battle."  Now,  as  he  fought  in 
the  day  of  battle,  so  he  will  fight  again  in  the  great 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  24*^ 

day  of  the  Lord,  when  his  feet  shall  stand  upon 
Mount  Olives,  which  shall  cleave  asunder. 

When  he  led  his  people,  under  Joshua,  into  the 
land  of  promise,  he  fought  and  overthrew  the  wicked 
nations,  and  divided  "  the  spoil  in  the  midst  of  them." 
In  like  manner,  it  is  affirmed  in  the  text  that  he  will 
fight  again  in  the  day  of  the  Lord.  His  army,  again, 
will  be  his  holy  people,  and  his  enemies,  as  before, 
the  wicked  nation,  practising  the  same  sins  for  which 
he  drove  out  the  Canaanites,  viz.,  sorcery,  witchcraft, 
necromancy,  and  kindred  evils,  just  w^hat  is  now  fill- 
ing up  the  cup  of  the  iniquity  of  the  world.  As  is 
the  type,  so  is  the  antitype. 

The  children  of  Israel  were  a  warlike  people, 
trained  to  the  use  of  arms  in  the  wilderness  ;  fought 
their  way  into  the  land,  and  their  greatest  battles  in 
the  land.  So  the  church  of  God  is,  and  is  called,  a 
militant  (fighting)  church,  and  like  the  ancient  Israel- 
ites, trusting  in  the  Lord  of  hosts,  will  never  lose  a 
battle. 

The  millions  who  are  now  sleeping  in  the  dust,  and 
who  have  "  all  died  in  faith,  not  having  received  the 
promise,"  will  "  stand  upon  their  feet,  an  exceeding 
great  army,"  and  be  brought  into  "  the  land  of  Is- 
rael," to  Jerusalem  ;  against  which,  Zechariah  says,  all 
nations  will  be  gathered  to  the  battle,  where  the  man 
of  sin  will  be  destroyed  ;  that  is,  taken  alive  and  cast 
into  the  burning  lake,  together  with  the  false  prophet,* 
and  a  clean  sweep  be  made  of  wicked  nations. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  see  that  the  three  prominent 
features  so  distinctly  marked  in  the  doctrine  of  rap- 


•  Out  of  the  mouth  of  which  came  another  of  the  £rog-like 
apirits. 


248  THE    SPlRITtTAL    tELEGllAPHiC 

ping  spiritualism,  viz.,  paganism^  anti-  Christianity^  and 
false  prophecy^  are  hastening  the  world  to  one  gen- 
eral decision  against  the  Holy  One  of  God.  Already 
do  we  hear  the  Pharaoic  question  from  almost  all 
classes  :  "  Who  is  the  Lord,  that  I  should  obey  his 
voice  ?  "  The  Deity  is  being  analyzed  both  by  rapping 
spiritualism  and  electro  and  mundane  philosophism, 
and  is  found  by  the  analysis  of  both  to  be  nothing 
but  the  material  universe ;  and,  sure  enough,  "  Who 
is  the  Lord  that  I  should  obey  his  voice?"  He  can- 
not prove  himself  to  be  "  the  God  of  the  Hebrews  "  by 
•  his  miracles ;  for  mundane  agency,  electricity,  or  some 
such  thing  can  work  all  these  miracles  as  well  as  he. 

The  devil,  too,  has  been  put  through  the  same  crazy 
crucible,  and  found  to  be  nothing  but  the  necessary 
animal  propensities  of  our  natures. 

This  is  the  greatest  and  most  enchanting  lullaby 
that  Satan  ever  sung.  It  is  quieting  the  consciences 
of  men  into  a  nap  that  nothing  but  the  din  of  the 
great  battle  of  God  Almighty  will  arouse  them  from. 
Let  those  who  can  discern  the  face  of  the  sky  discern 
the  signs  of  the  times  ;  for  it  is  not  too  late  to  talk 
of  the  divine  authenticity  of  the  Bible,  while  the  very 
elements  put  in  requisition  to  overthrow  it  are  literally 
fulfilling  it. 

While  rapping  spiritualism  is  pushing  a  little  against 
it  with  infidel  horns,  menacing  the  world  with  Egyp- 
tian darkness,  electro  and  mundane  agency  have  come 
against  it  like  a  battering  ram,  threatening  to  carry  all 
before  them,  and  to  reduce  the  universe,  with  its  Cre- 
ator, to  a  heap  of  chaos  "worse  confounded."  And 
while  the  former  has  taken  the  open  field,  and  com- 
menced the  seige,  the  latter  have  retired  behind  a 
fortification  of  science,  (falsely  so  called,)  and  opened 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  249 

a  heavier  and  more  deadly  fire  upon  the  same  object, 
under  pretence  of  repulsing  the  open-field  besieger. 

THE  MAN   OF   SIN. 

"  Now,  we  beseech  you,  brethren,  by  the  coming  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  by  our  gathering  together 
unto  bim,  that  ye  be  not  soon  shaken  in  mind,  or  be 
troubled,  neither  by  spirit,  nor  by  word,  nor  by  letter 
as  from  us,  as  that  the  day  of  Christ  is  at  hand. 

"  Let  no  man  deceive  you  by  any  means  ;  for  that 
day  shall  not  come^  except  there  come  a  falling  away 
first,  and  that  man  of  sin  be  revealed,  the  son  of  per- 
dition ;  who  opposeth  and  exalteth  himself  above  all 
that  is  called  God,  or  that  is  worshipped  ;  so  that  he,  as 
God,  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God,  showing  himself 
that  he  is  God. 

"  Remember  ye  not,  that  when  I  was  yet  with  you, 
I  told  you  these  things  ?  And  now  ye  know  what 
withholdeth  that  he  might  be  revealed  in  his  time. 

"  For  the  mystery  of  iniquity  doth  already  work ; 
only  he  who  now  letteth  ivill  let,  until  he  be  taken  out 
of  the  way.  And  then  shall  that  Wicked  be  revealed, 
whom  the  Lord  shall  consume  with  the  spirit  of  his 
mouth,  and  shall  destroy  with  the  brightness  of  his 
coming :  even  him,  whose  coming  is  after  the  work- 
ing of  Satan,  with  all  power,  and  signs,  and  lying 
wonders,  and  with  all  deceivableness  of  unrighteous- 
ness in  them  that  perish  ;  because  they  receive  not  the 
love  of  the  truth,  that  they  might  be  saved. 

"  And  for  this  cause  God  shall  send  them  strong 
delusion,  that  they  should  believe  a  lie  :  that  they  all 
might  be  damned  who  believe  not  the  truth,  but  had 
pleasure  in  unrighteousness."     (2  Thess.  ii.  1-12.) 


250  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

Protestants  have  said  this  man  of  sin  is  Papacy, 
the  little  horn  of  Daniel ;  whilst  Papists  say  it  is 
Protestantism.  But  it  cannot  be  either,  for  several 
reasons.  His  revelation  is  to  be  preceded  by,  or  ac- 
companied with,  a  falling'  away.  Now,  at  the  rise  of 
Papacy  or  Protestantism,  there  was  no  remarkable 
falling  away  more  than  when  a  hundred  false  systems 
or  creeds  arose.  The  church  has  always  had  her 
declensions  and  revivals  to  a  certain  degree ;  but 
there  must,  somewhere,  be  emphatically  a  falling 
away  —  one  that  must  be  more  distinctly  marked  than 
any  other,  else  it  could  not  be  recognized  by  the 
church  as  the  one  the  apostle  referred  to ;  and  he 
evidently  spoke  of  it  as  one  which  they  would  recog- 
nize when  it  should  come.  In  the  present  Laodicean, 
lukewarm  state  there  is  a  decided  falling  away,  and 
one  that  is  rapidly  progressing,  and  without  a  parallel. 
Not  only  the  church  is  cold,  but  her  power  seems 
paralyzed.  Though  revivals  are  not  unfrequent,  yet 
she  seems,  by  going  with  her  flocks  and  herds  (her 
pride  and  riches)  to  the  Lord,  to  have  dealt  treach- 
erously with  him,  and  to  have  begotten  strange  chil- 
dren, which  a  month  seems  to  devour  with  their 
portions;  while  many  need  reconverting  before  the 
end  of  a  month.  Nor  does  the  church  seem  doing  as 
much  towards  converting  the  world  as  the  world  is 
doing  towards  converting  the  church,  in  which  it  has 
so  far  succeeded  as  to  bring  her  down  nearly  or  quite 
to  a  level  with  the  world.  The  almost  total  want  of 
faith  in  the  word  of  ©od  is  peculiar  to  the  present 
age,  both  in  the  church  and  in  the  world,  the  effect  of 
which  is  seen  in  every  direction  —  in  the  general  dis- 
regard to  moral  principles,  in  the  insubordination  to 
government,  in  the  disobedience  of  children  to  parents. 


OPPOSITION     LINE.  251 

and  want  cf  reverence  to  the  aged  —  the  want  of 
confidence  between  man  and  man,  in  all  classes,  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest.  Every  thing  in  a  religious 
or  moral  point  of  view  seems  to  be  at  loose  ends. 
Many  who  most  pretend  to  faith  in  the  word  of  God 
have  spiritualized  every  truth  out  of  it,  in  order  to 
make  it  bend  to  certain  creeds,  and  thereby  made  it  a 
laughingstock  to  infidels.  The  man  of  sin  cannot  be 
Papacy  for  another  reason.  When  revealed,  it  is  to 
be  a  man  —  not  a  boy  or  child.  If  Papacy  is  the 
man  of  sin,  when  was  it  the  child  of  sin  ?  for  it  must 
he  a  child  before  it  is  a  man. 

If  Paul  alluded  to  Papacy  at  all,  we  can  consider 
it  the  child  of  sin,  as  it  introduced  those  false  doc- 
trines which  are  the  foundation  of  psychology,  and, 
when  matured,  will  make  the  man. 

But  Papacy  is  not  yet  the  man^  for  another  reason. 
In  the  person  of  its  head,  the  pope,  he  never  exalted 
himself  above  all  that  is  called  God,  but  says  he  is  a 
servant  of  servants ;  neither  did  he  ever  sit  in  the 
temple  of  God.  His  seat  has  always  been  at  Rome; 
while  the  temple  of  God  has  been,  and  will  ever  be,  at 
Jerusalem. 

Ps.  Ixxxii.  13-18 :  "  For  the  Lord  hath  chosen 
Zion ;  he  hath  desired  it  for  his  habitation.  This  is 
my  rest  forever.  Here  will  I  dwell,  for  I  have  desired 
it,"  &c.  And  that  Jerusalem  is  represented,  is  evident 
from  Ps.  cxlvii.  12,  13.  And  that  Christ  will  yet 
take  David's  throne  and  kingdom,  is  evidently  a  mat- 
ter of  prophecy.  (See  Is.  ix.  6,  7.  Luke  i.  31-33. 
Ezek.  xxi.  25-27.)  The  literal  throne  of  David  is 
the  one  Christ  will  yet  take.  David's  spiritual  throne 
(if  he  ever  had  one)  was  never  "  overturned,  and  over- 
turned, and  overturned ; "  but  hi»  literal  throne  has 


252 


THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 


been,  and  Christ  will  take  it.  But  when  he  comes 
there  will  be  two  claimants  to  it,  himself  and  the  man 
of  sin,  who  will  be  on  it,  in  the  temple  of  God,  ex- 
alting himself  above  all  that  is  called  God.  His 
coming  "  is  after  the  w^orking  of  Satan,  with  all 
power ^  and  signs,  and  It/ing'  ivonders,  and  with  all 
deceivableness  of  unrighteousness  in  them  that  perish, 
because  they  receive  not  the  love  of  the  truth,  that 
they  might  be  saved.  And  for  this  cause  God  shall 
send  them  strong  delusion,  that  they  should  believe  a 
lie  :  that  they  all  might  be  damned  who  believe  not 
the  truth,  but  had  pleasure  in  unrighteousness."  This 
is  the  man  of  sin  —  the  full-grown  Antichrist.  There 
can  be  no  second  revelation  of  Christ  till  there  is  a 
revelation  of  Antichrist.  One  is  as  much  a  matter 
of  prophecy  as  the  other ;  and  although  heaven  and 
earth  shall  pass  away,  not  one  jot  or  tittle  of  the 
word  will  fail. 

Now,  we  need  no  Daniel  to  tell  us  that  psychology 
is  paving  the  way  to  the  man  of  sin,  "  whose  coming 
is  after  the  working  of  Satan,  with  all  power,  and 
signs,  and  lying  wonders."  It  is  to  be  expected  he 
will  deceive,  if  possible,  the  very  elect ;  as  it  is  said 
he  will  all  whose  names  are  not  w^ritten  in  the  book 
of  life. 

The  strong  delusion  is  rapidly  driving  men  into  the 
valley  of  decision,  where  they  are  taking  sides  —  the 
great  mass  for  Antichrist,  the  few  for  Christ. 

The  advocates  of  rapping  spiritualism  pretend  that 
no  one  has  yet  arrived  at  perfection  in  these  things. 
What,  then,  may  we  expect  of  one  perfected  in  these 
mysteries?  Nothing  less  than  one  qualified  to  work 
Christ-like  miracles,  as  far  as  miracle  is  concerned. 
Now,  in  the  preseift  rapid  tendency  of  the  world  to 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  253 

pantheism  and  infidelity,  such  a  one  might  success- 
fully proclaim  himself  to  be  God,  that  is,  the  Lord 
Grod,  saying  he  is  all  the  God  there  is,  and  setting 
himself  in  the  temple  of  God,  and  saying,  also,  "  I  will 
be  their  God,  and  they  shall  be  my  people,"  and  that 
those  who  will  not  have  him  to  rule  over  them  he  will 
destroy.  It  is  unerring  prophecy  that  such  a  personage 
will  yet  arise,  and  continue  forty  and  two  months, 
when  he  will  be  destroyed  by  the  rightful  heir  of  the 
throne. 

Rapping  spiritualism  and  philosophical  pantheism 
are  fast  ripening  the  world  to  worship  just  such  an  im- 
postor, whose  character  will  be  the  exact  opposite  to 
that  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  as  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead 
dwells  in  the  one,  so  will  the  fulness  of  the  devil  dwell 
in  the  other.  One  is  God  incarnate,  the  other  is  the 
devil  incarnate.  And  before  the  former  can  take  the 
throne  of  his  father  David,  it  must  be  occupied  by 
the  latter. 

THE  DEVIL. 

"  Be  sober,  be  vigilant ;  because  your  adversary  the 
devil,  as  a  roaring  lion,  walketh  about,  seeking  whom 
he  may  devour."     (1  Pet.  v.  8.) 

There  seems  to  be  a  growing  tendency  among  men 
to  doubt  every  thing  that  cannot  be  scientifically  de- 
monstrated, leaving  little  or  no  room  for  the  exercise 
of  faith,  which  "is  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen," 
and  without  which  "it  is  impossible  to  please  God." 
The  miraculous  birth  of  our  Savior,  the  atonement, 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  &c.,  are  often  doubted 
because  they  cannot  be  demonstrated  by  science.  So 
also,  because  the  grappling  irons  of  human  wisdom 
cannot  be  fastened  upon  his  satanic  majesty,  and  hia 
22 


254:  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

origin,  his  maker,  and  use  be  discovered,  his  existence 
is  often  doubted. 

Now,  it  is  written,  "  The  just  shall  live  by  faith."  If 
we  believe  nothing  except  what  we  can  demonstrate, 
we  have  no  spiritual  life,  and  shall  not  have  life  in  the 
world  to  come.  "  Who  is  the  devil  ?  "  is  often  asked. 
Peter  says  he  is  "  your  adversary."  But  popular  opin- 
ion is  saying  he  is  our  "  evil  propensities,"  given  us 
for  some  wise  purpose. 

But  who  can  demonstrate  this  g-ood  and  wise  pur- 
pose ?  There  is  no  better  evidence  of  it  than  there  is 
of  a  devil. 

It  is  said  God  did  not  create  him,  because  he  cannot 
be  the  author  of  evil.  Yet  it  is  admitted  that  man  has 
evil  in  his  heart;  and  it  may  be  asked.  Who  created  it? 
It  cannot  be  God,  as,  in  the  former  argument,  he  is  not 
the  author  of  evil ;  and  it  cannot  be  man,  for  he  cannot 
create  any  part  of  his  own  nature.  But  still  it  exists; 
and  the  same  sophistry  which  proves  there  is  no  devil, 
proves  there  is  no  evil :  the  same  which  proves  there  is 
no  devil  but  evil,  proves  there  is  no  God  but  goodness. 

But  what  idea  could  Peter  have  of  a  man's  evil  pro- 
pensities "  as  a  roaring  lion,  walking  about,  seeking 
whom  they  may  devour  "  ? 

To  deny  the  existence  of  an  evil  in  some  mode  of 
being,  is  to  deny  the  evidence  of  our  sober  senses. 

Even  rapping  spiritualists  admit  there  are  wicked 
spirits^  and  that  their  mediums  are  often  deceived  by 
them  ;  but  they  say  they  are  the  spirits  of  dead  men. 
But  there  is  no  more  proof  that  they  are  such  than 
there  is  that  they  are  devils,  only  as  one  is  believed  to 
exist,  and  the  other  is  not. 

Now,  there  is  nothing  gained  by  denying  the  exist- 
ence of  the  ancient  devil   and  substituting  a  modern 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  255 

one,  endowed  with  all  the  powers  and  attributes  of  the 
old  one.  But,  "  to  the  law  and  to  the  testimony  :  "  these 
will  settle  the  question  w^hether  there  is  a  devil  or  not, 
and  whether  he  is  electricity^  ocl  force,  wicked  spirits 
of  men,  or  old  Satan  himself. 

Let  the  reader  take  his  Bible  and  read  the  following 
texts,  substituting  "  the  evil  propensities  of  man  "  for 
the  words  devil^  Satan,  serpent,  &c.,  and  see  if  the 
Scriptures,  so  read,  would  give  the  popular  idea  of  a 
devil.  We  will  begin  with  Gen.  iii.  1 :  "  Now  the 
evil  propensities  of  man  were  more  subtile  than  any 
beast  of  the  field  which  the  Lord  God  had  made." 
"And  they  said  unto  the  woman.  Ye  shall  not  surely 
die."  "And  the  woman  said,  My  evil  propensities 
beguiled  me,  and  I  did  eat.  And  the  Lord  God  said 
unto  her  evil  propensities,  Because  ye  have  done  this, 
ye  are  cursed  above  all  cattle,  and  above  every  beast 
of  the  field  ;  and  your  evil  propensities  shall  go  upon 
their  bellies,  and  eat  dust  all  the  days  of  their  lives." 

Now,  here  were  three  active,  intelligent  agents,  viz., 
the  man,  the  woman,  and  the  serpent ;  each  of  which 
was  guilty,  and  so  considered.  And  that  the  devil  is 
sometimes  called  "  the  serpent,"  may  be  seen  by  read- 
in<T  Rev.  xii.  9;  xx.  2.  Again,  (Matt,  i v.  1:)  "Then 
as  Jesus  led  up  of  the  spirit  into  the  wilderness  to  be 
tempted  of  his  evil  propensities.^''  "And  when  his  evil 
propensities  came  unto  him,  they  said,  If  thou  be  the 
son  of  God,  command  these  stones  to  be  made  bread." 
"  Then  his  evil  propensities  taketh  him  up  into  the 
holy  city."  "  Jesus  said  unto  them.  It  is  written  again. 
Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord  thy  God." 

Matt.  ix.  32 :  "And  as  they  went  out,  behold,  they 
brought  to  him  a  dumb  man  possessed  with  his  evil 
propefisities.    And  when  they  were  cast  out,  the  dumb 


256  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

Bpake.  But  the  Pharisees  said,  He  casteth  out  evil 
propensities  through  the  prince  of  evil  propensities.*^ 
Matt.  XXV.  41 :  "  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  ever- 
lasting fire,  prepared  lor  pour  evil  propensities  and  their 
angels." 

Luke  iv.  33 :  "And  in  the  synagogue  there  was  a 
man  which  had  a  spirit  of  an  unclean  evil  propensity-'' 
Matt.  viii.  31  :  "  So  the  evil  propensities  of  the  man  be- 
sought him,  saying,  If  thou  cast  us  out,  suffer  us  to  go 
away  into  the  herd  of  swine."  John  vi.  70  :  "Jesus  an- 
swered them,  Have  not  I  chosen  you  twelve,  and  one  of 
you  is  man's  evil  propensity?"  Heb.  ii.  14:  "That 
through  death  he  might  destroy  him  that  hath  the  power 
of  death,  which  is,  the  evil  propensities  of  men.**  (See 
also  Jude.  ix.  and  Job  i.  6.)  The  account  of  Satan,  in 
The  first  chapter  of  Job,  does  not  seem  much  like  an 
evil,  but  more  like  an  evil  being.  How  is  it  in  .Luke  x. 
18  ?  —  "I  beheld  the  evil  propensities  of  men  as  lightning 
fall  from  heaven."  2  Cor.  xi.  15  :  "And  no  marvel ; 
for  the  evil  propensities  of  men  are  transformed  into 
angels  of  light.  Therefore  it  is  no  great  thing  if  (their) 
ministers  also  be  transformed  as  the  ministers  of  right- 
eousness." Rev.  xii.  7  :  "And  there  was  war  in  heaven  : 
Michael  and  his  angels  fought  against  the  evil  propen- 
sities of  men;  and  they  fought  and  their  angels,  and 
prevailed  not ;  neither  was  their  place  found  any  more 
in  heaven.  And  they  were  cast  out  (of  heaven,)  that 
old  serpent,  called  the  Devil,  and  Satan,  which  de- 
ceiveth  the  whole  world  :  they  were  cast  out  into  the 
earth,  and  their  angels  were  cast  out  with  them." 

Verse  12 :  "  Woe  to  the  inhabiters  of  the  earth,  and 
the  sea  !  for  the  evil  propensities  of  men  are  come  down 
unto  you,  having  great  wrath,  because  they  know  they 
have   but    a   short    time."      Zech.    iii,   1  :    "And    he 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  257 

showed  me  Joshua  the  high  priest  standing  before  the 
angel  of  the  Lord,  and  the  evil  propensities  of  men 
standing  at  his  right  hand  to  resist  him." 

How  is  this  ?  Mediums  tell  us  that  good  spirits 
come  up  on  the  right  hand,  and  evil  ones  on  the  left. 
But  Zechariah  saw  Satan  standing  at  the  right  hand. 
Mediums  should  look  into  this,  for  what  they  call  good 
spirits  may  be  devils,  after  all. 

In  the  same  manner  the  reader  may  read  Rev.  xvi. 
13,  14.  Rom.  xvi.  20.  Rev.  xx.  10.  Luke  viii.  2. 
James  ii.  19.  Rev.  xviii.  2.  Ps.  cix.  6,  "  Set  thou 
a  wicked  man  over  him  ;  and  let  Satan  stand  at  his 
right  hand." 

Here  Satan  again  is  at  the  right  hand  ;  which  seems 
to  be  his  place.  He  cannot,  therefore,  be  the  spirit  of 
a  dead  man,  or  his  place  would  be  on  the  left. 

But  we  forbear  :  further  quotations  are  unnecessary. 
Those  who  deny  the  existence  of  the  devil  should  be 
aware  that  very  few,  if  any,  serve  him  who  do  believe 
in  his  existence. 

In  taking  a  general  view  of  the  subject,  the  follow- 
ing difficulties  naturally  present  themselves.  If  there 
is  no  devil  but  wickedness  in  men,  who  are  the  angels 
of  this  wickedness  ?  and  who  is  the  prince  of  it  ?  A 
prince  implies  subordinates;  and  angels  are  ministers 
unto  something  that  can  be  ministered  unto.  Now,  if 
it  be  replied  that  man  has  one  ruling  passion  to  which 
the  others  are  subordinate,  then  what  inflames  that 
ruling  passion  ?  It  must  be  the  angels  that  minister 
unto  it;  and  if  these  are  the  evil  propensities  of  men, 
we  have  not  found  the  origin  of  evil  yet.  Again  : 
the  devil  was^  or  is  to  be,  cast  out  of  heaven.  If  he  is 
the  evil  propensities  of  men,  how  came  he  in  heaven? 
But  it  may  be  said  that  heaven,  in  the  text,  means 
22* 


258  THE    SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

the  church.  It  is  then  evident  the  devil  is  not  cast 
out,  nor  has  the  war  yet  comraenced  which  is  to  cast 
him  out.  But  when  he  is  cast  out,  the  warfare  of  the 
church  is  forever  ended  ;  for  John  says,  when  he  saw 
him  cast  out,  his  place  was  found  no  more  in  heaven. 
But  when  this  takes  place,  the  church  will  be  no  more 
a  militant  church,  but  triumphant;  and  at  the  same 
time,  twelve  hundred  and  sixty  days,  or,  as  some  say, 
years,  the  devil  will  be  in  the  earth  ;  which  must  mean 
the  unconverted,  if  heaven  means  the  church. 

It  will  readily  be  seen  that  such  a  view  of  the  devil 
would  be  very  difficult  to  harmonize  with  the  doctrine 
of  the  millenium,  past  or  future.  If  it  is  future,  and  the 
devil  is  the  wickedness  of  men,  there  will  be  one  thou- 
sand two  hundred  and  sixty  years,  instead  of  a  thousand, 
during  which  there  will  be  the  wicked  remaining  on 
earth.  It  would  seem,  then,  that  the  heaven  in  the 
text  is  not  the  church,  but  the  heaven  of  the  church, 
in  which  there  is  no  evil  propensities  of  men,  but  a 
devil  to  be  cast  out  in  the  last  days,  and  to  come  down 
to  the  earth  with  great  wrath,  knowing  he  has  but  a 
short  time  —  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty  lit- 
eral days. 

But  it  is  not  intended  in  this  work  to  give  an  ex- 
planation of  the  symbolic  language  used  by  the  reve- 
lator,  further  than  to  show,  that,  to  be  consistent  with 
itself,  the  devil  cannot  be  the  evil  propensities  of  men, 
notwithstanding  the  popular  idea  to  the  contrary. 
Holy  men  of  old  believed  in  his  existence  as  a  being; 
their  prophets  taught  them  so,  and  Christ  confirmed  it 
But  through  psychology,  table  tipping,  mundane  agen- 
cy, &c.,  it  has  been  discovered  that  there  is  none. 
Wise,  indeed,  must  be  that  race  of  men  whose  very 
tables  know  who  is  the  best  medium  in  a  room.     I 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  259 

wonder  if  Daniel's  old  table  knew  as  much  ?  But 
suppose  this  is  all  science,  and  no  devil ;  what  has 
science  been  about  ever  since  creation,  that  she  has  not 
revealed  these  things  before? 

Moses  and  the  prophets,  we  are  told  by  spiritualists, 
were  good  mediums  ;  and  the  former  carried  his  rod  in 
his  hand,  and  we  never  hear  of  its  being  charged,  or  of 
his  taking  a  ride  on  it.  As  it  is  admitted  there  were 
good  mediums  of  old,  if  there  is  any  law  of  nature 
about  these  things,  it  would  have  shown  itself  occa- 
sionally through  them.  They  were  constantly  coming 
in  contact  with  wooden  tables,  stools,  or  seats,  sandals, 
&c.  Why  did  they  not  charge  them  so  that  the}' 
would  walk  off  without  hands,  as  at  the  present  day  ? 
But  no  ;  men  were  not  able  to  give  torpid  shocks  to 
wooden  things,  until  they  discovered  that  there  was  no 

DEVIL. 

CONCLUSIONS. 

We  come  now  to  take  a  general  view  of  the  whole 
subject,  and  from  its  principal  features  draw  our  con- 
clusions ;  and,  — 

1st.  It  is  evident  that  mesmerism,  psychology,  clair- 
voyance, ecstasy,  spiritual  manifestations,  rapping,  and 
table  tipping  are  but  different  phases  of  the  same  thing, 
which  must  all  stand  or  fall  together. 

2d.  That  it  is  the  mysterious  power  of  Imagination, 
and  that  it  does  not  present  any  stronger  evidence  to 
the  senses  than  she  has  frequently  been  known  to  do. 

3d.  That  its  tendency  is  to  infidelity,  pantheism,  and 
finally  to  atheism. 

4th.  That  it  is  a  direct  attempt  of  the  devil  to  ex- 
tinguish the  few  remaining  sparks  of  faith  in  the  word 
of  God,  and  to  confirm  his  first  falsehood  —  "  Ye  shall 
not  surely  die." 


260  THE   SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC 

5th.  That  it  is  a  direct  and  literal  fulfilment  ot  divme 
revelation. 

6th.  That  it  is  an  abomination  in  the  sight  of  God, 
and  a  manifest  result  of  the  moral  depravity  of  human 
nature. 

7th.  That  it  is  paving  the  way  to  the  "  man  of  sin," 
and  greater  wonders  may  yet  be  expected  of  it. 

8th.  That  it  is  "  the  spirits  of  devils  working  mira- 
cles, and  going  forth  unto  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and 
to  the  whole  world,  to  gather  them  to  the  battle  of  that 
great  day  of  God  Almighty." 

9th.  That  it  is  an  evidence  of  the  proximity  of  that 
great  day. 

10th.  That  it  is  emphatically  the  ''  strong  delusion  " 
which  is  to  deceive  all  whose  names  are  not  "  written 
in  the  book  of  life." 

But  it  may  be  said  that  these  conclusions  are  pre- 
maturely drawn,  and  that  the  thing  has  already  passed 
its  meridian,  and  is  beginning  to  decline.  We  are 
aware  there  is  not  as  much  public  show  made  of  it  at 
present  as  a  few  months  since.  But  how  has  it  declined  ? 
Have  any  of  its  advocates  renounced  it  and  gone  back 
and  embraced  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  ?  No  ;  nor 
does  it  appear  that  their  faith  in  it,  as  a  general  thing, 
is  in  the  least  shaken  ;  and  while  they  have  relaxed  a 
little  in  the  public  display  of  it,  they  are  gaining  strength 
in  their  private  cabals.  To  their  evening  sittings  there 
is  less  public  admission  ;  but  still  a  few  friendly  ones  are 
admitted,  and  the  number  of  believers  is  still  increas- 
ing. The  thing  has  only  retired  a  little  from  the  public 
to  gather  strength  in  private.  We  trust  the  facts  pre- 
sented in  this  work  will  commend  themselves  to  the 
candid,  and  that  the  reader  will  weish  them,  and,  by  the 


OPPOSITION    LINE.  261 

word  of  God  and  his  grace,  be  enabled  to  draw  his 
own  conclusions. 

In  arriving  at  a  just  decision  on  this  subject,  much 
depends  on  whether  there  is  a  devil  or  not ;  as  imagi- 
nation, without  Satanic  agency,  cannot  do  all  that  is 
said  to  be  done  by  spiritual  agency.  Take,  for  in- 
stance, the  stones  thrown  at  a  house  in  Paris,  described 
on  page  177. 

Now,  the  argument  of  spiritualists  on  this  subject  is 
this :  If  an  angel,  which  is  spirit,  could  roll  away  the 
stone  from  the  sepulchre,  the  spirits  of  the  dead  can 
throw  one  through  the  air,  tip  tables,  &c. 

But,  in  the  first  place,  there  is  no  proof  that  the  angel 
referred  to  was  the  spirit  of  a  dead  man. 

Now,  it  is  admitted  that  the  stones  thrown  in  Paris 
were  by  evil  spirits.  And  according  to  their  own  logic, 
if  they  cannot  prove  that  the  angel  that  rolled  away 
the  stone  from  the  sepulchre  was  the  spirit  of  a  dead 
man,  they  cannot  prove  that  the  spirits  that  threw  the 
stones  are  spirits  of  dead  men. 

It  is  admitted  that  God  is  supreme ;  and  we  have 
shown  that  there  is  an  order  of  beings  intermediate 
between  him  and  man ;  for  Christ  was  made  a  little 
lower  than  the  angels.  Now,  since  God  is  God,  and 
there  is  none  like  him,  (Is.  xlvi.  9,)  of  every  grade  of 
rational  beings  beneath  him,  some  must  be  good,  and 
some  bad.  Then  there  must  be  bad  angels  as  well  as 
good  ones.  This  is  no  greater  mystery  than  that  there 
should  be  good  and  bad  men  ;  and  unless  there  can  be 
bad  angels,  there  can  be  no  bad  men. 

From  the  nature  of  the  case,  it  is  therefore  very  poS' 
sihle  that  there  is  a  devil ;  and  from  divine  revelation 
it  is  very  certain  there  is  one,  yea,  many. 

Now,  since  there  are  wicked  angels  or  devdls,  and 


2^2 


SPIRITUAL    TELEGRAPHIC    OPPOSITION    LINE. 


since  a  good  aogel  can  roil  a  stone,  bad  ones,  or  devils, 
may  throw  them.  The  reader  has  the  account  of  the 
stones  being  thrown  in  Paris,  the  tipping  of  tables,  &c., 
as  cheap  as  the  author.  What,  therefore,  is  not  done 
by  an  aberration  of  mind,  ^if  done  at  all,)  is  done  by 
the  devil,  who  is  as  able  to  do  it  as  the  angel  of  the 
Lord  was  to  roll  away  the  stone  from  his  sepulchre. 

That  the  reader  may  keep  that  which  is  committed 
to  his  trust,  avoiding  profane  and  vain  babblings,  and 
oppositions  of  science  falsely  so  called,  which  some 
professing  have  erred  concerning  the  faith,  is  the  prayer 
of  the  author.  x\nd  seeing  ye  know  these  things,  be- 
\vare  l^st  you,  also,  being  led  away  with  the  error  of 
the  wicked,  fall  from  your  own  steadfastness.  But 
grow  in  grace,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  and 
Savior  Jesu»  Christ,  to  whose  abundant  mercy  we 
commend  you,  beseeching  you  to  abide  in  his  word 
Shun  every  appearance  of  evil,  and  watch  unto  prayer, 
that  you  may  escape  the  strong  delusion  of  these 
last  days,  and  stand  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Son  of 
man  when  he  shall  come  in  his  glory,  and  receive  the 
welcome  invitation —  "  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Fa- 
ther, inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world." 


APPENDIX. 


.  It  is  a  strongly-marked  characteristic  of  man,  that 
though  he  may  make  never  a  more  candid  decision  on 
passing  events,  yet,  v^^ien  passed,  and  he  takes  a  retro- 
spective view  of  them,  they  frequently  wear  an  entirely 
different  aspect.  There  are,  no  doubt,  several  causes 
for  this  ;  one  of  which,  and  not  the  least,  is,  present 
j)opuiar  opinion,  which  more  or  less  influences  almost 
every  individual.  Indeed,  a  man,  associated  with  his 
fellow-man,'  can  scarcely  possess  human  attributes 
without  being  more  or  less  under  this  influence. 
Again  :  passing  events  seldom  produce  that  cool  de- 
liberation of  mind  necessary  to  a  just  decision  that 
the  contemplation  of  them  in  the  past  does. 

From  these  and  like  considerations,  I  have  thought 
it  best  to  present  the  reader  with  a  specimen  of  mes- 
merism, or  something  allied  to  it,  in  the  past.  I  refer 
to  "the  Salem  witchcraft,"  many  features  of  which 
have  a  striking  resemblance  to  what  is  now  passing 
under  the  appellation  of  mesmerism,  table  tipping,  &c., 
a  specimen  of  v^dlich  may  be  found  in  "  Mather's 
History  of  New  England,"  Book  vi.,  page  68,  as 
follows :  — 

"  In  the  year  1679,  the  house  of  William  Morse,  at 
Newbury,  was  infested  with  demons  in  a  most  horrid 

(263) 


264  APPENDIX. 

manner^  not  altogether  unlike  the  demons  of  Ted- 
worth.     It  would  fill  many  pages  to  relate  all  the  in- 
festations, but  the  chief  of  them  were  such  as  these : 
Bricks,  sticks,  and  stones  were  often  by  some  invisible 
hand  thrown  at  the   house,  as  were  many  pieces  of 
wood.     A  cat  wa    tl  rc'vi*  al  ihi  woman  of  the  house, 
and  a  long  staff'  danced  up  and  down  in  the  chimney, 
and  afterwards  was  hung  by  a  line,  and  swung  to  and 
fro  ;  and  when  two  persons  laid  it  on  the  lire  to  burn 
it,  it  was  as  much  as  they  were  able  to  do  with  their 
joint  strength  to  hold  it  there.     An  iron  crook  was 
violently,  by  an  invisible  hand,  hurled  about;  and  ai 
chair  flew  about  the  room,  until  at  last  it  lit  upon  the 
table,  where  the  meat  stood  ready  to  be  eaten,  and  had 
spoiled  all  if  the  people  had  not,  with  much  ado,  saved : 
a  little.    A  chest  was  by  an  invisible  hand  carried  from 
one  place  to  another,  and  the  doors  barricaded,  and  the 
keys  of  the   family  taken,  some  of  them   from   the 
bunch  where  they  were  tied,  and  the  rest  flying  about 
with  a  loud  noise  of  their  knocking  against  each  other. 
For  a  while  the  folks  of  the   house  could   not  sup 
quietly,  but  ashes  would  be  thrown  into  their  suppers, 
and  on  their  heads  and  clothes;  and  the  shoes  of  a> 
man   being  left  below,  one  of  them  was  filled  with 
ashes  and  sent  up  after  him.     When  they  were  in  bed,, 
a  stone  weighing  above  three  pounds  was  divers  times 
thrown  upon  them.     A  box  and  a  board  were  likewise 
thrown  upon  them ;  and  a  bag  of  hops  was  taken  outt 
of  the  chest  by  the  invisible  hand,  and  they  were  beaten i 
with   it,  till  some  of  the  hops  were  scattered  on  the 
floor,  where  the  bag  was  then  laid  and  left.     The  mani 
was  often  struck  by  that   hand  with  several  instru- 
ments ;  and  the  same  had  cast  their  good  things  into 
the  fire.     While  the   man  was   at   prayer  with   hia 


APPENDIX.  265 

household,  a  broom  gave  him  a  blow  on  his  head  be- 
hind, and  then  fell  down  before  his  face.  When  they 
were  winnowing  their  barley,  dirt  was  thrown  at  them  ; 
and  essaying  to  fill  their  half  bushel  with  corn,  the 
foul  corn  would  be  thrown  in  with  the  clean,  so  irre- 
sistibly that  they  were  forced  thereby  to  give  over  what 
they  were  about.  While  the  man  was  writing,  his 
inkhorn  was,  by  the  invisible  hand,  snatched  from  him, 
and  being  able  nowhere  to  find  it,  he  at  length  saw  it 
drop  out  of  the  air  down  by  the  fire.  A  shoe  was  laid 
upon  his  shoulder;  but  when  he  would  have  caught  it, 
it  was  snatched  from  him  and  laid  upon  his  head, 
where  he  held  it  so  fast  that  the  unseen  fury  pulled 
him  with  it  backwards  on  the  floor.  He  had  his  cap 
torn  off  his  head,  and  in  the  night  he  was  pulled  by 
the  hair,  and  pinched,  and  scratched :  the  invisible  hand 
pricked  him  with  some  of  his  awls,  and  with  needles 
and  bodkins;  and  blows  that  fetched  blood  were  some- 
times given  him.  When  he  was  writing,  another  time, 
a  dish  went  and  leaped  into  a  pail,  and  cast  water  on 
him,  and  on  all  the  concerns  before  him,  so  as  to  defeat 
what  he  was  then  doing.  His  cap  jumped  off  his  head 
and  on  again,  and  the  pot  lid  went  off  the  pot  into  the 
kettle,  then  over  the  fire  together." 

Speaking  of  a  boy  belonging  to  the  family,  it  is 
said,  — 

"  All  the  knives  belonging  to  the  house  were  one 
after  another  stuck  into  his  back,  which  the  spectators 
pulled  out ;  only  one  of  which  seemed  to  them  to  come 
out  of  his  mouth." 

Farther  on  a  few  pages,  we  find  an  account  of  sev- 
eral accused  of  witchcraft,  who  made  the  following 
confessions  before  the  magistrates  in  court:  — 

"  Goody  F.  said  that  she,  with  two  others,  (one  of 
23 


266  APPENDIX. 

whom  acknowledged  the  same,)  rode  from  Andover  to 
the  same  village  (Salem)  witch  meeting  on  a  stick,  above 
the  ground,  and  that  in  the  way  the  stick  broke  and 
gave  her  a  fall,  by  which  she  was  hurt,  and  still  sore." 
"  I  happened,"  said  Mather,  "  to  be  present  in  prison 
when  this  F.  owned  again  her  former  confession  to  the 
magistrates.  I  asked  her  if  she  rode  to  the  meeting  on 
a  stick.  She  said,  "  Yes."  It  was  not  long  before  M.  L., 
daughter  of  the  said  F.,  confessed  that  she  rode  with 
her  mother  to  the  witch  meeting,  and  confirmed  her 
mother's  confession.  At  another  time,  M.  L.,  junior, 
the  granddaughter,  aged  about  seventeen  years,  con- 
fessed what  her  grandmother  and  mother  had  related  ; 
and  when  they,  with  E.  C,  rode  on  a  stick  or  pole  in 
the  air,  she,  (the  granddaughter,)  with  B.  C,  rode  upon' 
another ;  and  the  said  B.  C.  acknowledged  the  same." 
Such  are  but  a  few  of  many  similar  occurrences 
which  took  place  in  this  memorable  time  of  wonders, 
which  prevailed  to  such  an  extent  that  nineteen  were 
executed.  And  besides  many  who  were  imprisoned, 
more  were  accused,  while  the  numbers  afflicted  were 
still  increasing.  But  it  was  finally  seen  that  every 
legal  effprt  made  to  arrest  the  evil  only  increased  the 
number  of  victims,  till,  perhaps,  profiting  by  the  expe- 
rience of  several  European  nations,  public  sentiment 
began  to  call  for  a  different  mode  of  procedure  ;  and 
William  Phips,  then  governor,  granted  a  pardon  to 
such  as  were  condemned,  and  a  release  to  those  in 
prison,  which  soon  put  an  end  to  the  singular  affair. 
But  it  was  not  confined  to  New  England  alone  :  about 
that  time,  in  Sufiield,  in  England,  in  the  year  1645,  it 
prevailed,  and  was  followed  up  by  prosecutions,  until 
they  saw  that,  unless  they  put  a  stop  to  them,  "it 
would  bring  all  into  blood  and  confusion."     It  also 


APPENDIX.  267 

prevailed  in  France  until  nine  hundred  were  put 
to  death.  In  looking  back  upon  this  subject,  it  is 
difficult  to  find  people,  at  the  present  time,  who  are 
willing  to  believe  that  all  these  strange  things  really 
took  place.  But  when  we  speak  of  the  present  mys- 
terious movement  of  tables  and  chairs  for  proof,  we 
are  referred  to  the  evidence  of  our  senses.  But  had 
not  the  people  who  lived  at  Salem  and  vicinity,  nearly 
two  hundred  years  ago,  senses  as  well  as  those  now 
living  ? 

Shall  we  presume  to  say  that  the  people  who  pulled 
the  knives  from  the  boy's  back  did  not  know  whether 
they  were  in  it  or  not,  or  whether  they  drew  them  out 
of  it  or  not  ?  Why  are  such  things  to  be  doubted 
because  they  are  said  to  have  taken  place  yesterday 
rather  than  if  they  are  said  to  take  place  to-day  ?  No 
good  reason  can  be  given  ;  yet  every  man  insists  on 
believing  his  own  senses,  though  he  takes  the  liberty 
to  doubt  those  of  every  man  but  his  own.  The  peo- 
ple who  lived  two  hundred  years  ago  might  as  well 
trust  their  senses  as  the  people  who  now  live.  Yet  it 
is  generally  admitted  that  Imagination  played  a  very 
conspicuous  part  in  the  Salem  witchcraft.  Then  cer- 
tainly we  ought  not  to  deny  her  agency  in  nrcsmerism, 
the  mysteries  of  which  bear  so  near  a  resemblance  to 
those  of  the  times  we  speak  of.  It  is  said  a  few  indi- 
viduals in  our  day  have  taken  a  ride  on  a  table  moved 
with  unseen  hands;  and  the  proof  is,  the  evidence  of 
our  senses. 

But  there  were  several  of  the  accused,  as  just  re- 
lated, who  confessed  that  they  rode  from  Andover  to 
Salem  through  the  air  on  a  stick  or  pole.  And  what 
is  still  more  singular,  these  confessions  were  made  in 
court  before  which  they  were  tried,  and  for  which  they 


268  APPENDIX. 

were  condemned  to  suffer  death.*  Now,  if  the  evi- 
dence of  the  senses  cannot  bear  false  witness,  these 
individuals  would  not  have  been  condemned.  In  this 
instance,  we  must  either  admit  the  evidence  of  the 
senses  to  be  false  and  absurd,  or  that  these  women  did 
actually  ride  miles  through  the  air  on  a  stick. 

I  have  witnessed  a  multitude  of  cases  equally  as 
singular,  in  which  clairvoyants  have  imagined  them- 
selves riding,  flying,  or  sailing  through  the  air  with 
more  than  railroad  speed  ;  and  in  that  state  would  so 
affirm,  I  have  no  doubt,  at  the  expense  of  their  lives. 
There  is  a  still  further  striking  resemblance  between 
clairvoyants  and  those  who  made  this  confession  ;  that 
is,  the  former,  on  returning  to  the  normal  state,  lose 
all  knowledge  of  what  they  say  or  do  in  the  abnormal ; 
while  the  latter,  after  being  pardoned,  and  the  excite- 
ment over,  nearly  all  denied  all  knowledge  of  what 
they  confessed,  or  of  ever  making  a  confession  of  any 
kind,  or  of  ever  going  to  a  witch  meeting.  A  few  only 
said  they  had  belied  themselves  and  others  ;  but  it 
does  not  appear  that  even  these  were  conscious  at  the 
time  of  what  they  were  doing.  They  were  all,  un- 
doubtedly, mesmerized,  not  by  the  present  passes,  but 
by  the  excitement  created  by  the  marvellous  times  in 
which  they  lived. 

It  is  remarkable  that  those  who  were  executed 
seemed  to  be  the  least  under  the  influence  of  the  gen- 
eral aberration  of  mind.  All  of  them  persisted  in  their 
innocence  even  to  their  death. 

It  is  truly  melancholy  to  reflect  on  these  circum- 
stances, inasmuch  as  we  see  the  disastrous  effects  Im- 
agination produced  in  those  by-gone  days ;  and  not 

*  They  were  condemned  principally  on  tiieir  own  confessions  ; 
however,  they  were  not  executed,  but  pardoned  by  Governor  Phips. 


APPENDIX.  269 

much  the  less  so  to  reflect  that  in  this  enlightened  age 
as  little  is  known  or  realized  of  her  illusive  power ; 
especially  while  we  see  the  learned  and  the  wise  build- 
ing psychological  towers  to  her  everlasting  fame,  or 
erecting  electro  and  odyle  monuments  to  her  glory, 
with  all  the  zeal  and  ardor  of  a  Buddha  devotee. 

But  w^e  are  told  that  the  progress  of  science  is  "  on- 
ward and  upward ; "  and  since  even  the  Deity  himself 
cannot  be  encircled  in  its  philosophical  folds,  he  must 
be  counted  among  the  things  which  belong  only  to  the 
darker  ages  of  the  world.  People  are  not  generally 
aware  of  the  liability  of  being  deceived  by  external 
appearances,  which,  if  illusive,  produce  a  correspond- 
ing internal  sensation.  For  instance,  a  train  of  cars 
arrives  at  a  depot  and  gi'adually  stops,  while  another 
is  moving  by  in  the  opposite  direction.  This  calls  the 
attention  of  the  passenger  to  that  side,  to  the  train 
in  motion,  which  he  verily  thinks  is  at  rest,  and  his 
own  is  passing  by  it.  In  this  case  he  is  not  only  de- 
ceived by  outward  appearances,  but  he  feels  also  an 
internal  evidence  of  an  onward  motion  while  he  is 
perfectly  at  rest.  But  on  casting  his  eye  out  on  the 
other  side  on  objects  at  rest,  his  judgment  is  instantly 
corrected,  and  his  internal  sense  of  motion  as  instantly 
ceases.  This  is  but  one  of  the  many  very  common 
cases  of  the  illusory  play  of  imagination,  in  which  are 
engaged  the  senses  of  seeing  and  feeling. 

Now,  the  motion  of  the  table  is  said  to  be  felt  as  well 
as  seen  in  what  is  called  the  "  tipping  experiment." 
But  Professor  Farraday  has  of  late,  by  several  ingenious 
experiments,  demonstrated  that  they  do  not  move  by 
an  unseen  agent.  The  length  of  his  article  is  such 
that  it  cannot  be  given  here ;  but  it  may  be  found  in 
the  "  London  Athenaeum,"  of  Saturday,  July  2,  1853. 
23* 


270  APPENDIX. 

It  appears  that  among  other  things  used  by  the  pro- 
fessor in  his  experiments  was  an  index,  designed  to 
show  "whether  the  table  moved  first,  or  the  hand 
moved  before  the  table,  or  both  moved  or  remained  at 
•rest  together."  In  this  case,  he  says,  "  The  eifect  was 
never  carried  far  enough  to  move  the  tables ;  for  the 
motion  of  the  index  corrected  the  judgment  of  the 
experimenter,  who  became  aware  that  inadvertently  a 
side  force  had  been  exerted." 

I  have  never  doubted  the  real  motion  of  a  table  loith 
hands  on  it.  It  was  common  to  one  or  two  of  my 
clairvoyants  to  move  a  table  by  placing  the  hand  on, 
by  which  they  said  they  charged  or  electrified  it  so  as 
to  produce  a  mighfy  attraction  between  it  and  the 
hand.  But  after  repeated  experiments,  I  ascertained 
that  it  was  not  so.  For,  after  a  little  practice,  I  found 
I  could  move  a  small  stand,  by  placing  one  finger  on 
it,  as  well  as  my  clairvoyants,  and  that  it  was  not 
necessary  to  be  in  the  abnormal  state  to  perform 
the  feat. 

To  insure  success,  a  tall  but  light  stand  should  be 
chosen,  having,  by  the  position  of  its  legs,  a  small  base 
in  proportion  to  its  height  to  stand  on  ;  and  by  placing: 
a  finger  on  the  top,  nearly  over  its  centre  of  gravity, 
pressing  downward  and  laterally,  it  will  be  thrown  out 
of  balance,  as  it  were,  and  stand  on  one  or  two  legs,, 
and  by  suddenly  bringing  back  the  lateral  pressure,  its 5 
centre  of  gravity  will  again  be  thrown  on  to  one  orr 
two  of  the  other  legs ;  and  so  may  be  made  to  walk 
all  over  the  room,  and  appear  to  follow  the  hand.     Butt 
when  one  can  be  made  to  start  off  and   go  without 
hands,  I  shall   believe  those  ladies  did  actually  ride 
from  Andover  to  Sedem  on  a  stick  through  the  air. 

And  next,  if  it  can  be  proved  that  a  natural  agent  is 


APPENDIX.  271 

employed  in  such  cases,  I  shall  believe  that  the  time 
is  not  far  distant  when  the  air  will  be  filled  with  aerial 
cars,  transporting  passengers,  freight,  and  baggage 
from  and  to  every  place  on  the  globe,  and  to  the  neigh- 
boring planets. 

Though  it  be  admitted  that  the  people  of  this  age 
are  a  scientific  people,  yet  they  are  beside  themselves; 
much  learning  has  made  them  mad.  Give  me  a 
knowledge  of  a  law  of  nature  by  which  these  things 
are  (said  to  be)  done,  and  I  hold  myself  in  readiness 
immediately  to  build  and  run  such  a  car  from  here  to 
the  moon  to  begin  with. 


INDEX. 


FAQE 

Aberration  of  mind, 116 

Ancient  Egyptian  mesmerism, 188 

Ancient  sorcery, 17 

Angel  seen  by  John  the  revelator, 63 

Animal  instinct, 204 

Answered  according  to  divinations, 233 

Anti-Bible  convention  at  Hartford, 112 

Anton  Mesmer,  memoirs  of, 21 

Apparent  polarity  of  subjects, 28 

Apparitions  always  appear  clothed, 64 

Apparitions  of  living  persons, 64 

Appearances  deceitful,. 104 

Appendix, 263 

Arcturus,  apparent  motion  of, 103 

Armageddon,  battle  of, 246 

Box  brought  by  a  spirit, 181 

Bruno,  disclosui'es  by, I7l 

Captain  Mcintosh,   spirit  of, 64 

Catalepsy, • 43 

Cerebral  lucidity, 95 

Clairvoyance, 38,  48 

Clairvoyance,  anticipations  of, 45 

Conclusions, 259 

Deductions.     Moral  argument.     Conclusion, 208 

Different  phenomena  of  mesmerism, 35 

Divination 221 

Dods's  theory, 69 

(273) 


274  INDEX. 

Dods's  theory  refuted, 83 

Double  life  in  man, 167 

Dr.  Franklin,  spirit  of, 146 

Dr.  Roback, 243 

Ellen  White's  visions, 191 

Emma,  an  English  clairvoya   t,     39 

Emma  detects  a  thief, 40 

Emma  describes  the  moon, 50 

Enchanter, 221 

Evil  spirits,  proof  of, 170 

Extasis  or  trance, 38 

Fantasy, 37 

First  mesmeric  circle, 32 

French  commissioners  examine  Mesmer's  experiments, 24 

French  prophets, 190 

God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living, 128 

God's  displeasure  with  those  who  go  after  familiar  spirits, 234 

Gold-leaf  electrometer, 30 

Gold  seal  brought  by  a  spirit, 180 

Haunted  house  in  Newbury, 263 

How  to  become  a  medium,  witch,  fortune  teller,  &c., 237 

Imagination,  power  of, 65 

Improved  mode  of  going  to  heaven, 139 

Indian  clairvoyants, 187 

Iron  missiles  thrown  by  spirits, 179 

"Kentucky  revival," 121 

Magicians  of  Egypt 17 

Man  and  beast,  difference  between, 196 

Mesmer's  arrival  in  Paris, 22 

Modern  divination, ; 237 

Moon,  influence  and  signs  of, 239 

Naaman  the  leper, 189 

Natural  and  spiritual  body,  what  ? 131 

Opinion  of  Elder  J.  S.White, 165 

Optical  properties  of  light, 96 

Pacts, 175 

Papacy  not  the  man  of  sin, 251 

Perkins's  tractors, 25 


INDEX.  275 

Philadelphia  spirit  rappers, 15 

Philosophy  of  charming, 184 

PossessionB, 173 

Professor  Faixaday's  experiments  on  table  tipping, 269 

Projectiles  mysteriously  thro-wn  at  a  house  in  Paris, 177 

Rapid  spread  of  spiritual  manifestations, 162 

Review  of  the  mundane  theory, 195 

Salem  witchcraft, 263 

Soul,  properties  of, 171 

Spectre  seen  at  Hoosic  Falls, 160 

Spirit  a  consulter  with  a  familiar, ,   222 

Spirit  rapping  common  to  haunted  houses, 106 

Steel  plates  magnetized, 21 

Table  preaching, 150 

Tables,  how  made  mediums, 147 

Table  of  prismatic  colors, 97 

Talismans, 175 

The  author's  first  acquaintance  with  mesmerism, 19 

The  author's  further  experiments, 56 

The  body  a  prison  of  the  soul, 167 

The  devil, 253 

The  easiest  way  to  account  for  it, 183 

The  man  of  sin, 249 

The  secret  of  God  is  with  them  that  fear  him, 227 

The  transfiguration, 62 

"  The  Watchman, "  his  opinion  of  table  tipping, 152 

Three  unclean  spiiits  like  frogs, 242 

Times,  an  observer  of, 221 

Unity, 36 

Witchcraft  forbidden, 235 

Witchcraft  in  Europe, 166 

Witches,  execution  of,  in  Salem, 166 

Witches  riding  through  the  air  on  a  stick, 265 


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